State Highlights: Penn. Health System Agrees To $76K Medicare Home-Care Settlement; Ind. Health Centers Get $7M For Upgrades

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Penn Settled Home-Care Suit For $76K
The University of Pennsylvania Health System agreed to pay $75,787 to resolve allegations that its home health unit, Penn Care at Home, submitted claims to Medicare for services not rendered and for services that were not reasonable or necessary, the United States Attorney for the Eastern Disctrict of Pennsylvania said Friday. (Brubaker, 5/6)

The Associated Press: Feds Award $7M For Upgrades At 8 Indiana Health Centers
Eight Indiana community health centers are sharing in more than $7 million in federal funding that will allow them to serve thousands more patients by renovating or expanding their operations. The funding from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is part of $260 million the agency recently awarded to nearly 300 health centers in 45 states. (5/8)

Reuters: Two Convicted Of Falsely Certifying Patients As Terminally Ill
Two California doctors were convicted by a federal jury in Los Angeles on Thursday of falsely certifying that Medicare patients were terminally ill and qualified for hospice care as part of an $8.8 million scheme to defraud government health insurance programs. Sri Wijegoonaratna and Boyao Huang both worked at Covina-based California Hospice Care, which federal prosecutors say billed Medicare and California's Medicaid program for unneeded hospice care between March 2009 and June 2013, when it was shut down. (Pierson, 5/6)

The Tampa Bay Times: 'Zombies' And Seizures: Tampa Bay Discovers It Has New Problems With Spice
At first, no one seemed to notice the two men sitting on the short wall across from the Marion Transit Center. With eyes shut and heads bobbing, the pair swayed, their limbs twitched. One man, wearing a red shirt bearing the phrase "Southern Muscle," began to have a seizure. This was midmorning on a hot Thursday late last month in downtown Tampa, a few blocks north of the federal courthouse and the posh high-rise apartments at Skypoint and Element. (Sullivan, 5/6)

The Kansas City Star: As Accusations Fly, Campaign To Raise Missouri’s Tobacco Tax Pushes Forward
Over the course of the last year, Linda Rallo has been accused of a lot of things. At one point, she was supposedly trying to steer public funds to abortion providers. Then she was part of a clandestine effort to undercut constitutional protections for stem cell research. She’s been called a shill for big tobacco and an enemy of public schools. (Hancock, 5/8)

Georgia Health News: Healthcare Georgia Foundation Announces First-Quarter Grants
Twelve organizations will share more than $500,000 in grants from Healthcare Georgia Foundation that predominantly target rural health, health disparities, and distance learning for health professionals and nonprofits. (Miller, 5/7)

The Seattle Times: Longtime Lead Poisoning In Boy, 16, Traced To Sheepskin Rugs
A 16-year-old Central Washington boy is recovering from years of exposure to toxic levels of lead from an unlikely source: two sheepskin rugs he’d slept with since kindergarten. Jake Wood, of Benton City, has posted blood-lead levels at least 12 times higher than the federal level for action, a condition that likely caused irreversible learning disabilities, speech problems and medical issues. (Aleccia, 5/7)

News Service of Florida: State Policy Makers Look To Curb Youth Suicides
Suicide rates are rising for children and young adults, both nationally and statewide --- and Florida policymakers are trying to reverse the trend. While suicide is increasing for nearly every age group, it's now the second-leading cause of death for Floridians aged 25 to 34, according to the state Department of Health Vital Statistics, and the third-leading cause of death among youths aged 10 to 24. (Menzel, 5/6)

Sun Sentinel: South FL County Lowers STD Test Fee
Getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases just got cheaper in Palm Beach County. As STD rates rise dramatically, the County Commission agreed to lower the Health Department's fee for testing from $159 to $58 for self-pay patients. The change was recommended to encourage more people to get tested and treated. (Swisher, 5/6)

Florida Today: Lice In Florida Schools Is A Touchy Subject
Jessica Holloman had no clue what awaited her when she spied lice crawling on her daughter's scalp last year. Holloman turned to an over-the-counter treatment and began picking louse eggs, or nits, from 6-year-old Sydney's hair. When the then-pre-kindergartener went back to class, her mom alerted the teacher. (Kowarski, Paulson and Sangalang, 5/8)

Health News Florida: Tallahassee To Get Fluoride Upgrade
Tallahassee’s Fluoride system needs an upgrade and officials say there’s some state money that could help. Water Resources Engineering Manager John Buss says Tallahassee renovated the buildings associated with the system a few years ago. Now he says the pipes and tanks need attention. “Fluoride is a corrosive material it tends to wear out pumps and tanks and fittings pretty quickly," Buss says. (McCarthy, 5/6)

The Santa Fe New Mexican: Two Hydrologists Blame Toxin Used To Kill Fish For Parkinson'S Diagnoses
It was well after dark on Dec. 2, 2009, when a team of government workers, wearing thick gloves and respiratory masks, began to pour 2,200 gallons of milky white liquid into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Illinois. Ryan Jackson, then 34, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, watched the work begin from the shore, before readying his own boat with a colleague, Kevin Johnson, and heading out onto the water. The men were tasked with tracing the chemical’s path by injecting a pink fluorescent dye into the water where the translucent toxin would be. (Moss, 5/8)