State Highlights: Pence Signs Ind. Needle-Exchange Bill, Measure To Protect Health Professionals From Liability As Volunteers

The Associated Press: Pence Signs Needle-Exchange Bill As HIV Outbreak Cases Grow
Indiana communities facing an HIV epidemic tied to intravenous drug use will have a way to implement needle-exchange programs under a measure Gov. Mike Pence signed into law Tuesday, as the number of confirmed cases in a rural outbreak grew to nearly 150. (5/5)

The Ledger Enquirer: New Law Will Give Immunity To Volunteer Medical Workers
Doctors, nurses and other health care providers will have civil immunity for their volunteer work under a new Indiana law. Gov. Mike Pence on Tuesday signed the bill that gives immunity from lawsuits to licensed medical professionals when they are performing basic treatments for free after registering with the state. They also must notify patients of the legal protection. (5/5)

California Healthline: Floor Vote Next For Nurse Practitioner Bill
A bill that would allow nurse practitioners in California to practice without physician supervision under certain circumstances passed the Senate Committee on Appropriations in a 5-0 vote on Monday and now heads to the Senate floor. (Vesely, 5/5)

The Associated Press: Ex-Clinic Chief In Las Vegas Hepatitis Case Gets Prison Time
The former business chief of a Las Vegas medical clinic linked to a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Tonya Rushing apologized Monday to Senior U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks, who also sentenced her to two years of supervised release after prison and ordered her to perform 150 hours of community service. (Ritter, 5/5)

Health News Colorado: Health Chief Vows To Keep IUD Program Alive
Colorado’s top doctor is refusing to give up on a birth control program that is leading the nation in reducing teen pregnancies and cutting abortions. Last week, Republicans in the Colorado Senate killed a bill that would have allocated $5 million in taxpayer funds to provide IUDs and other long-acting removable contraceptive devices (known as LARC) for low-income teens and young women in Colorado. (Kerwin McCrimmon, 5/5)

The Associated Press: NYC Mayor Proposes Millions In New Mental Health Services
Over 80 schools would get mental health clinics, every police precinct would have a victims' advocate and social workers would arrange psychological care for thousands of families in homeless shelters under Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to invest tens of millions of dollars in mental health, his wife's signature issue. The proposal, which first lady Chirlane McCray unveiled Tuesday, comes as New York seeks to become a national model for cities to address mental health needs and . She's spearheading an effort to draw a full-fledged plan, expected this fall. (Peltz, 5/5)

The New York Times: Air Ambulances Offer A Lifeline, And Then A Sky-High Bill
Clarence W. Kendall, a rancher in Pearce, Ariz., was moving bales on top of a haystack when he fell eight feet and struck his head on the corner of a truck below. His health insurance covered most of the cost of treating the head trauma caused by the accident. But there was one bill, for $47,182, that his insurance did not pay. (Eavis, 5/5)

NPR: Whooping Cough Vaccine's Protection Fades Quickly
Lately, Californians have been focused on a measles outbreak that got its start at Disneyland. But in the past five years, state health officials have declared epidemics of whooping cough twice — in 2010 and in 2014, when 11,000 people were sickened and three infants died. Now an analysis of a recent whooping cough epidemic in Washington state shows that the effectiveness of the Tdap vaccine used to fight the illness (also known as pertussis) waned significantly. For adolescents who received all their shots, effectiveness within one year of the final booster was 73 percent. The effectiveness rate plummeted to 34 percent within two to four years. (Aliferis, 5/5)