State Highlights: Patient Deaths Rose In St. Luke’s Medical Center’s Liver, Lung Transplant Programs During Trouble With Heart Program; Calif. Fires Leave Behind Burned Toxic Chemicals
Media outlets report on news from Texas, California, Minnesota, Florida, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Missouri.
Houston Chronicle:
As St. Luke’s Heart Program In Houston Faltered, Deaths After Liver And Lung Transplants Also Rose
During the summer of 2017, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center posted a banner on its website, celebrating its liver and lung transplant programs as “#1 in Texas.” That declaration was based on the latest publicly available data, which showed stellar one-year survival rates for patients who received liver and lung transplants at St. Luke’s between 2014 and the middle of 2016. But soon after the hospital published those marketing materials in August 2017, both of those transplant programs began to see increases in patient deaths, an investigation by the Houston Chronicle and ProPublica has found. (Hixenbaugh and Ornstein, 11/30)
The New York Times:
In California, Houses Burned. So Did The Toxic Chemicals They Contained.
The long, laborious process of returning Paradise and neighboring towns to a safe state will begin next month when crews in masks, Tyvek suits and booties begin combing through every last property in this town that was decimated by wildfire. Their targets are things like burned bottles of bleach, melted cans of paint, and corroded car batteries, which will be tagged and removed. Next, they will test the surrounding soil and, if needed, scrape away layers to get to clean earth, free from oil and gasoline. “You’d be surprised how much of that stuff survives a fire,” said Adam W. Palmer, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control who is helping lead the cleanup. (Nir, 11/29)
Los Angeles Times:
Rain Triggers Debris Flows As Storm Rolls Across Fire-Scarred Regions Of California
A cold front that brought wind and heavy rain to California on Thursday unleashed debris flows in fire-ravaged neighborhoods, triggering evacuations and school closures as crews up and down the state rescued people trapped in homes and cars and, in one case, a man clinging to a tree in the Los Angeles River. (Fry and Tchekmedyian, 11/29)
USA Today:
26-Year-Old On Face Transplant: 'It's Important To Share My Story'
A 26-year-old man from Yuba City, California revealed his new face to the world Thursday after undergoing a life-changing facial transplant in June 2018. Cameron Underwood was injured by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on June 27, 2016. Over the next year, he would undergo several "conventional" surgeries to try to reconstruct his face as he hid the damage to his cheeks, nose and mouth behind a medical mask. (Pitofsky, 11/29)
The Star Tribune:
Insurer Bright Health Raises $200 Million To Finance Expansion
Minneapolis-based insurer Bright Health said Thursday it has raised another $200 million to support ongoing expansion. Bright Health announced plans this summer to expand into portions of New York, Ohio and Tennessee. It already competes in parts of Alabama, Arizona and Colorado. Launched in 2016, Bright Health initially focused on selling individual market health plans that comply with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) and has since added Medicare Advantage plans for seniors. (Snowbeck, 11/29)
Dallas Morning News:
Arlington Family Fooled Investigators For Years With Disability Claims To Get Social Security
Some members of the Mitchell family claimed to speak with ghosts, court records say. They were shut-ins, they said. The mother, who reported hallucinations, was disheveled and mumbled words to herself. When her son was asked if he could brush his teeth, he said he didn't have any. His answer to a question about whether he's ever had surgery was a single word: Pizza. But it was all a ruse, federal agents say, to allow them to keep getting Social Security checks they weren't entitled to. (Krause, 11/29)
Houston Chronicle:
Houston To Consider Prohibiting Astros, Visiting Players From Chewing Tobacco At Minute Maid Park
If Houston leaders and health advocates get their way, the city’s beloved Astros will join a growing number of Major League Baseball players barred from dipping and chewing tobacco during games at their home stadium. The Houston City Council is considering a ban on smokeless tobacco during games by “any person employed by a professional baseball team or league” at Minute Maid Park — including in dugouts, training rooms and locker rooms. (Scherer, 11/29)
Health News Florida:
Temperatures In Florida Are Rising. For Vulnerable Patients, That Can Be Life-Threatening
People who live on low incomes are among the most vulnerable to climate change. For patients who are susceptible to increasing heat, health care needs — air conditioning and fans, not just medications — may not be covered by health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. (Stein, 11/29)
New Hampshire Public Radio:
Dartmouth Med Students To Mentor LGBTQ+ Youth In New 'Qmmunity' Project
A new program looks to pair Dartmouth medical students as mentors with LGBTQ youth in the Upper Valley. Qmmunity is a collaboration between the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine and the group Rural Outright. (Moon, 11/29)
Nashville Tennessean:
Vanderbilt Nurse's Error Killed A Patient, Jeopardized Medicare Payments
Eleven months ago, a nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center accidentally selected the wrong medicine while attempting to give a patient a routine sedative, injecting the patient with a lethal dose of a paralyzing anesthetic. The error, which caused the death of an otherwise stable patient, briefly jeopardized the Medicare reimbursement status of one of Nashville’s largest and most prestigious hospitals. (Kelman, 11/29)
Nashville Tennessean:
Vanderbilt’s Deadly Mistake: 3 Things To Know About The Medicare Scare
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is at risk of losing its Medicare reimbursement because federal officials discovered that a patient died last year after they were inadvertently injected with a powerful anesthetic. You can read the details here, but if you don’t have time for the whole story, here are three key things you should know about Nashville’s biggest hospital. (Kelman, 11/29)
Austin American-Statesman:
Austin Police Form Task Force To Address Mental Health Audit
Austin police officials have formed a task force to address the conclusions of an audit that found that the Police Department could do a better job interacting with people who are mentally ill, City Manager Spencer Cronk wrote in a memo Thursday. The audit found that there are not enough mental health experts to assist police when they interact with people who are mentally ill and that a third of the 24 people killed in Austin police shootings from 2010 through 2016 were having mental health crises. (Hall, 11/29)
St. Louis Public Radio:
St. Louis Will Boost The Number Of Beds At Its Emergency Homeless Shelter This Winter
The city of St. Louis plans to add more beds to its Biddle homeless shelter, north of downtown, starting on Monday. The shelter currently has room for 100 men to stay overnight. Mayor Lyda Krewson announced Thursday that Biddle House will make space for an additional 50 men until the end of March. (Lippmann, 11/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Getting A $415 Million Windfall. How Will The Mayor And Supes Spend It?
San Francisco is getting an unexpected $415 million windfall, and the mayor and supervisors already have plenty of ideas on how they might use it. More than half the money, which is coming from excess revenue in a county education fund, must go to budget reserves, the Municipal Transportation Agency, public libraries, tree maintenance, public schools and child care and youth services under rules set by the City Charter. (Thadani, 11/29)
