Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Planned Parenthood Kansas City Clinic's License To Be Renewed After Meeting State Requirements; Former HHS Secretary Wins Florida House Primary
KCUR: Missouri Now Says It Will Renew Kansas City Planned Parenthood’s Abortion License
Missouri health officials say they plan to renew the abortion license of Planned Parenthood’s midtown Kansas City clinic now that the clinic has secured an abortion provider. The Department of Health and Senior Services had allowed the facility’s license to expire on Aug. 10 after its previous abortion physician left. The department said it was impossible to verify compliance with the state’s legal requirements without a physician on the premises. (Margolies, 8/28)
The Hill: Former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala Wins Democratic House Primary In Florida
Democrat Donna Shalala, a former Health and Human Services secretary under President Clinton and a long-time educator, won her House primary on Tuesday. Shalala emerged from a crowded Democratic primary in Florida's 27th District with 32 percent of the vote, the Associated Press projected with 95 percent of precincts reporting. (Greenwood, 8/28)
Arizona Republic: Congressional District 4: Brill Leading In Race To Challenge Gosar
David Brill, a doctor and businessman, was leading in the Democratic primary for Arizona’s northwestern congressional district and a chance face U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar in the November elections. ... Like many Democrats running this year, Brill wants a public option like Medicare available for everyone. (Hansen, 8/28)
The Star Tribune: Second Measles Case Puts Minnesota Officials Back On Alert
A case of measles reported in Hennepin County last month has not caused other infections — ending fears that it would set off a larger outbreak, state health officials reported Tuesday. But just as they were about to declare the all clear, another unrelated case popped up last week, also in Hennepin County. Like the earlier case, this one involves an unvaccinated child who had traveled here from Africa and brought the infection along. (Howatt, 8/28)
Reveal: A Judge Ordered Immigrant Children Removed From Troubled Texas Facility. They’re Still There.
Immigrant children are still being held at a troubled Texas facility nearly a month after a federal judge ruled they should be moved to other housing, court documents show. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee also previously ordered that children at the facility could no longer be injected with psychiatric drugs without proper consent. But while lawyers for the children and a doctor visited the Shiloh Treatment Center last week, program director Douglas Plaeger told them the children are still being medicated “without parental consent or court authorization,” court records filed Monday state. (Morel, 8/28)
Kaiser Health News: Wis. Board Will Again Cover State Workers Seeking Transgender Treatment
In a surprising reversal, a Wisconsin board has voted to again offer insurance coverage to transgender state employees seeking hormone therapy and gender confirmation surgery. Members of the Group Insurance Board, which manages the insurance program for Wisconsin’s public workers and retirees, last week voted 5-4 to overturn its current policy barring treatments and procedures “related to gender reassignment or sexual transformation.” (Huetteman, 8/29)
Wyoming Public Media: Child Homelessness Is On The Rise In Idaho, Region
A new report out of Idaho shows the number of children without a permanent roof over their heads is increasing. This trend is mirrored across much of the Mountain West. The number of children struggling with homelessness in Idaho has jumped nearly 65 percent since 2010, according to state data. (Peacher, 8/28)
Dallas Morning News: Hillcrest Foundation Gives $1 Million Toward Parkland's Breast Health Center
The Hillcrest Foundation has pledged $1 million to build a comprehensive breast health center at Parkland Health & Hospital System. ... Parkland, which largely serves the poor and uninsured of Dallas County, sees more than 30,000 patients a year in an aging breast center that spans only 8,000 square feet. (Haber, 8/28)
Miami Herald: Accord Recalls Pills After Wrong Pills Get Put In Bottle
No one wants a surprise in their pill bottles. So when Accord Healthcare heard about a 100-count bottle of hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg tablets instead contained 100 spironolactone Tablets USP 25 mg, the4 company recalled the entire lot. (Neal, 8/29)
Iowa Public Radio: Investigators Track Contaminated Lettuce Outbreak To A Cattle Feedlot
Now, the Food and Drug Administration has a theory for how E. coli ended up on that lettuce. According to the FDA, it probably came from a large cattle feedlot at one end of a valley near Yuma, Ariz., which is one the country's biggest lettuce-growing areas. (Charles, 8/29)
Santa Fe New Mexican: Nuclear Safety Board Slams Energy Department Plan To Weaken Oversight
A new Department of Energy order that could be used to withhold information from a federal nuclear safety board and prevent the board from overseeing worker safety at nuclear facilities appears to violate longstanding provisions in the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, the board’s members said Tuesday. (Moss, 8/29)
