State Highlights: Pa. Audit Finds Deficiencies In Enforcement Of Nursing Home Staffing Rules; Common Calif. Mosquito Could Carry Zika

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Audit Finds Weakness In Nursing-Home Staffing Enforcement
An audit released Tuesday by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale found deficiencies in the way the Pennsylvania Department of Health enforced the state's minimum standard of 2.7 hours per day of direct nursing care. The audit covered the period from Jan. 1, 2014, through Oct. 31, 2015. Only last July did the health department start accepting anonymous complaints about nursing homes. (Brubaker, 7/26)

Sacramento Bee: California Household Mosquito Could Amplify Zika Virus Spread
A mosquito that’s common in California has become the latest identified carrier of the Zika virus, potentially multiplying the population of vectors capable of spreading the disease. Until last week, researchers believed the virus could only be spread by two types of aedes mosquito much rarer in California and the U.S. But new research by a UC Davis ecologist and a top Brazilian science institution pins the southern variety of the culex mosquito – known as the southern house mosquito – as a potential vector of the disease, which can only be transmitted when a mosquito bites an infected person and then bites someone else. (Caiola, 7/26)

Los Angeles Times: Amid Outbreak, Health Officials Want More Gay Men Vaccinated For Meningitis
Health officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties are recommending that all gay and bisexual men receive meningitis vaccinations, amid an outbreak of the potentially fatal disease disproportionately affecting men who have sex with men. Local health departments were previously recommending vaccinations only for people considered high-risk, such as men who are HIV positive. “We acknowledge this broadens our prior recommendations, but, after careful consultation with the CDC and health officers in other affected jurisdictions, we consider that this expansion of the vaccination recommendations is a necessary step to suppress this outbreak,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, L.A. County Interim Health Officer, in a statement Tuesday. (Karlamangla, 7/26)

The Texas Tribune: Abortion Booklet Revisions Called Even More Inaccurate
Death and infertility were just two of the risks a doctor described to Kryston Skinner when she chose to have an abortion last year. ... But some of the information she was given was misleading or medically wrong, contained in a long, controversial booklet that state lawmakers require doctors to give women at least 24 hours before an abortion procedure. Medical experts have long denounced the booklet, saying important sections — such as those connecting abortions to the likelihood of breast cancer and infertility — are wrong. (Pattani, 7/27)

The CT Mirror: State To Probe Whether UConn Can End Pediatric Services
State health care regulators have launched an inquiry into plans by the University of Connecticut Health Center to end primary clinical pediatric services starting Oct. 1. And the top Republican in the state Senate, Minority Leader Len Fasano of North Haven, is questioning whether UConn improperly skipped the state certificate-of-need process before scheduling the end of primary pediatric services. But the university said Tuesday that this process is not required to cease services in this instance. (Phaneuf, 7/26)

Gwinnett Daily Post: Norcross Clinic Expands To Help More Uninsured Gwinnett Residents
[Douglas] Hernandez, who started volunteering with the Good Samaritan Gwinnett Health Center in April 2015, said the woman said she felt lonely and without purpose. ...[Paige] Havens said the current location will allow for more than 20,000 interactions with patients per year. She said the nonprofit gained six more staff members and now has 22 available for pediatrics, prenatal care, primary care, dentistry, and individual and family counseling. (Wells, 7/25)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Medical Marijuana Blunts Tax Bill, Say UGA Researchers
In a recent study, the father-daughter team of David and Ashley Bradford say in the 17 states with a medical marijuana law in place by 2013, Medicare saved approximately $165.2 million because of lower prescription drug use. If medical marijuana was approved in every state, the overall savings to Medicare would have been around $468 million. That’s a lot of green. (Mathis, 7/26)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Suit Claims Dentist Was Fired For Reporting Unneeded Treatment
A dentist who was fired by Penn Dental Medicine is suing the University of Pennsylvania, alleging he was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for reporting that a fellow dentist was providing unnecessary treatment to make more money. In its legal response, Penn claims it fired Steven S. Pesis because he reviewed patients' records without permission, in violation of university policies and the federal law that protects the confidentiality of patients' medical information. (McCullough, 7/27)

The Washington Post: Va. Man Claimed He Had Cure For Cancer, Charged $1,200 Per Bottle. Cops Say It’s Bogus, Bust Him.
Though a low-slung medical office building in Manassas City, Va., may seem like an unlikely place to find a cure for cancer, that’s where Peter B. Adeniji was offering his miracles, police say. For only $1,200 a bottle, Adeniji’s special herbal mixture would do what science and proven medications could not, authorities say he promised numerous patients. The promises ended Monday when police from a Prince William County drug task force raided Adeniji’s office and his home in Bristow, seizing medicines, ingredients for Adeniji’s mixtures and $17,000 cash, authorities said. (Jackman and Shapiro, 7/26)