State Highlights: Status Check On Minn. Measles Outbreak; Mo.’s Psychiatrist Shortage Comes With Heavy Financial And Human Costs

Pioneer Press: Is The Minnesota Measles Outbreak Ending? Officials See Hopeful Signs
The number of new measles cases in Minnesota has not risen in 13 days, giving health officials hope that the outbreak could be nearing its end. The Minnesota Department of Health’s daily tally on the outbreak remained at 68 Tuesday, where it has been much of the past two weeks. In fact, it dropped one when a Ramsey County case a few days ago tested negative. But optimistic health officials still urge caution and vaccinations. The Health Department does expect the number of infected to rise as symptoms begin to show for those few who contracted the disease after prevention and control efforts began. (Carson, 5/30)

KCUR: Shortage Of Psychiatrists Leads Patients To Costly ER, Hospitalization 
Sixty-one percent of Missouri’s counties don’t have a single licensed psychiatrist—that’s according to data from the Missouri Board of Healing Arts.  And the shortage is most acute in rural areas...[H]e says, patients may engage in risky or illegal behavior, and languish in local jails. The shortage has wide-ranging ramifications on the criminal justice system and on hospitals. Wright County, in south-central Missouri, is one of the counties that doesn’t have a single, full-time psychiatrist. It does have three licensed psychologists; they cannot prescribe medication, but they can provide counseling and referrals. (Moore, 5/30)

Concord Monitor: Senate Budget Plan Cuts Taxes, Adds Money For Mental Health Beds, Drug Abuse
The Senate will begin consideration of an $11.8 billion state spending plan Wednesday that cuts business taxes, expands the number of mental health treatment beds and boosts funding for domestic violence shelters. Republicans tout the plan as fiscally sound and say it fulfills the state’s needs. Senate Democrats, however, have argued it doesn’t go far enough to address addiction treatment, higher education costs or workforce development. Reflecting that division, the plan passed the Senate Finance Committee in a 4-2 vote along party lines. (Morris, 5/31)

Stat: Texas On Track To Become First State To Explicitly Back Stem Cell Therapies
Lawmakers in Austin have approved a bill authorizing unapproved stem cell therapies, putting Texas on track to become the first state to explicitly recognize the experimental treatments. The measure now heads to Governor Greg Abbott, who has signaled his support for it. For years, clinics across the country have been offering experimental stem cell therapies for patients with chronic conditions or terminal illnesses, but no state has given them legal validation. Instead, clinics have largely operated under the radar of regulatory authorities, touting treatments for a range of injuries and diseases. (Joseph, 5/30)

Orlando Sentinel: 7 Babies Born So Far With Zika Complications In Florida 
In their second year combatting the Zika virus and the mosquitoes that carry it, state officials say they’re better prepared, but they’re also dealing with the consequences of infections, particularly among pregnant women. Seven babies have been born so far in Florida with lifelong neurological complications, health officials revealed Tuesday. (Miller, 5/30)

California Healthline: California’s New Single-Payer Proposal Embraces Some Costly Old Ways
Three of the dirtiest words in health care are “fee for service.” For years, U.S. officials have sought to move Medicare away from paying doctors and hospitals for each task they perform, a costly approach that rewards the quantity of care over quality. State Medicaid programs and private insurers are pursuing similar changes. Yet the $400 billion single-payer proposal that’s advancing in the California legislature would restore fee-for-service to its once-dominant perch in California. (Terhune, 5/31)

Boston Globe: Massachusetts Wants To Update Its Alcohol Laws. Not Everyone Is Happy 
When Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg last year announced a major push to rewrite the state’s alcohol laws, the message was clear: Our antiquated and confusing booze rules frustrate businesses and consumers... But just as the treasurer’s Alcohol Task Force begins its work in earnest this month, with a series of public hearings and a call for proposed changes, a legion of public health advocates has suddenly jumped into the debate. (Adams, 5/30)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Smoking Statistics: Georgia Tobacco Epidemic, Deaths, Healthcare Costs
In preparation for World No Tobacco Day 2017 on Wednesday, the World Health Organization highlighted the dangers of tobacco use as one of the biggest public health threats in the world. More than 7 million people die every year due to tobacco use, costing households and governments more than $1.4 trillion in healthcare costs and productivity loss, experts wrote in a news release. (Pirani, 5/30)

Denver Post: CVS Opens First Retail Pharmacy In Colorado, Two More Locations Coming This Summer
CVS Pharmacy’s first standalone store in Colorado is now open, and more are already on the way.The 13,500-square-foot drugstore, 16920 E. Lincoln Ave. in Parker, is the first of three CVS Pharmacy locations expected to open this year in the Denver metro area, officials for the Rhode Island-based chain said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday...Walgreens, CVS’s main rival, is already an established presence in Colorado, with 159 locations as of August. Rite Aid also has a number of retail locations in the Denver metro area. (Rusch, 5/30)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MSOE Students Try To Develop Synthetic Blood Substitute In Ambitious Project
For the past four years, successive teams of seniors at the Milwaukee School of Engineering have worked on a research project not short on ambition: developing a synthetic blood substitute that can transport oxygen in the body... The research project was the outgrowth of a serendipitous discovery by Zhang and Jung Lee, also an assistant professor at the school, while working on a way to encapsulate a drug for colon cancer in natural polymers derived from crab shells and orange peels.(Boulton, 5/30)

The Star Tribune: Twin Cities Mental Health Agency To Pay $4.5M In Federal Fraud Case 
A once-prominent Twin Cities mental health agency has agreed to pay $4.52 million to settle federal charges that it defrauded Medicaid — a case, advocates say, that highlights a need for greater oversight of Minnesota’s large network of in-home counseling services. Complementary Support Services (CSS) submitted thousands of false medical claims and failed to provide adequate supervision of unlicensed practitioners, according to a settlement announced Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis. (Serres, 5/30)

Kansas City Star: Discover Vision Centers Laser Surgery Offers Alternative To Lasik
In SMILE, surgeons reshape the cornea through a “keyhole” incision that is made by a laser that is computer-programmed... The surgery is already popular in Australia and much of Europe, but was not approved in the United States until September because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration process takes longer than other countries’ regulatory schemes. (Marso, 5/30)

Health News Florida: Florida Moves To Implement Medical Marijuana Without Lawmakers Input 
The Florida Legislative session ended without a deal on medical marijuana. The biggest fights were over how many growers to allow and how many retail outlets they could operate. So now, to meet deadlines baked into Amendment 2, the Florida Department of Health put a notice out last week that it will develop medical marijuana rules without lawmakers input. (Aboraya, 5/30)