Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: N.Y. Bill Gives Longer Legal Life To Medical Malpractice Suits; Consumer Group Pushes Conn. Regulator To Recuse Herself On Anthem-Cigna Merger
The Associated Press: New York Bill Extends Deadline For Medical Malpractice Suits
Legislation before state lawmakers in New York would significantly change medical malpractice law by allowing patients to sue years after an alleged misdiagnosis or mistreatment. (Klepper, 6/2)
The Connecticut Mirror: Consumer Group Demands Wade Recuse Herself On Cigna Merger
A consumer group says Gov. Dannel P. Malloy should avoid “going back to the days of Corrupticut” and replace Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Wade as the key state regulator on a proposed mega-merger between Anthem and Cigna insurance companies. (Radelat, 6/2)
The Wall Street Journal: CDC Identifies Counties At Risk Of HIV Outbreaks
In this rural town, the forces of poverty and addiction drove a needle-sharing drug problem that caused the first-known HIV outbreak related to the current opioid crisis in America. Now, as Austin struggles to recover from its outbreak last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 220 counties across the U.S. where similar conditions create vulnerability to eruptions of HIV and hepatitis C. (Campo-Flores and McKay, 6/2)
The Arizona Republic: Arizona Measles Outbreak Infects 2 More At Eloy Detention Center
Public-health officials reported that two more detainees at an Eloy immigration-detention center have confirmed cases of measles, bringing the total to 13 cases tied to the facility in Pinal County. (Alltucker, 6/2)
The Associated Press: Hawaii’s Lack Of Mental Health Care Forces Teens From State
Within months of starting the process of adopting her son, Susan Callahan knew something was wrong. Aron, who was 7, had trouble communicating and started getting violent at home and school, trying to hit his mother and teachers. Callahan took him to a psychiatrist, where he was diagnosed with a range of conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder and developmental disabilities. Desperate, his parents sought help from the state. But when Aron finally found adequate care nearly a decade later, it was not in Hawaii but more than 3,000 miles away, at a specialized facility in Kansas. (Starleaf Riker, 6/2)
The Tennessean: Nashville-Area Doctor Halts Vaccinations
A family medicine physician in Franklin declared Tuesday in a blog post that his practice will no longer administer vaccines because of what he calls questionable safety. An eight-point blog post on the website of Cool Springs Family Medicine lays out Dr. Daniel Kalb's concerns about vaccinations and autism, the safety of Gardisil, a vaccine against human papilloma virus, and ingredients in vaccines. ... The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that vaccinations do not cause autism. (Fletcher, 6/2)
Kansas Health Institute: AS KC Area's population Ages, Who Will Treat The Elderly?
In 2010, there were nearly 219,000 adults age 65 and over in the nine-county Kansas City metropolitan area. That was 11.4 percent of the population. By 2030, the area’s 65-plus population is projected to grow to more than 416,000 people, or nearly 18 percent of the population. (Margolies 6/2)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Actress Sues Phila., Alleges Lead Contamination Cover-Up
A Shakespearean actress from West Philadelphia, represented by a major national law firm, has filed a class-action suit claiming the city put her family - and tens of thousands of other Philadelphians - at a "significantly greater risk" for lead poisoning. Eleni Delopoulos, 37, who lives with her 2-year-old son and husband, filed suit Thursday in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. The suit contends the city has been aware of high levels of lead in the tap water for years and failed to warn residents of contamination. (Wood, 6/3)
ProPublica: Alabama Mom’s Charges Are Dropped, But Only After An Arduous Battle
Sixteen months after her arrest, Katie Darovitz — one of at least 500 women prosecuted under Alabama’s toughest-in-the-nation chemical endangerment law — has had her case dismissed. ... Though Darovitz’s case is unusual in some of its details, in other ways it is typical of the cases ProPublica and AL.com examined. Like Darovitz, 20 percent of mothers charged with chemical endangerment used marijuana only; like Darovitz, about a quarter had no prior criminal record. And like Darovitz, many of the mothers were turned over by hospitals, which sometimes conducted drug tests without mothers’ knowledge or consent. (Martin, 6/2)
Pioneer Press: A Macalester Athlete Had A Scholarship, A Job And A Shining Future. Then Came Xanax.
Aaron Dimler was on his way. The captain of his football team at Roseville High School, he had a job, a long-term girlfriend and a scholarship worth $240,000 to study and play football at Macalester. Then he started taking Xanax. (Shipley 6/2)
The Boston Globe: Marijuana Patients In Limbo As Doctor’s License Is Suspended
Nearly 5,800 Massachusetts patients certified to use medical marijuana are in limbo after state officials suspended the professional license of the doctor who authorized their use of the drug. (Lazar and Freyer, 6/3)
