State Highlights: Texas Budget Cuts Reduce Services For Kids With Disabilities; Georgia Task Force Finds Dire Health Literacy Gaps

Austin Statesman: Fewer Children With Disabilities Received Services Amid Funding Cuts
Fewer babies and toddlers born with disabilities are receiving critical services after the state slashed $18 million in funding for such programs since 2011, according to a new report by child advocacy group Texans Care for Children. Over four years, the number of disabled children under 3 years old who receive early childhood intervention services dropped by 14 percent to 50,634 children in 2015, the Austin-based group said in the report released Tuesday. The drop has occurred even though the state’s population of children under the age of 3 has grown by 2 percent during the same period. (Chang, 11/1)

Georgia Health News: ‘Health Literacy’ Can Be A Life-Or-Death Matter
According to Georgia’s Task Force on Adult Literacy, one out of three adult Georgians is functionally illiterate.  In the Augusta area alone, there are more than 65,000 adults whose basic educational levels may be less than those of the average eighth-grader, according to Augusta University’s Literacy Center. Without a clear understanding of their health condition, these adults are more likely to skip necessary medical tests and have a harder time with diabetes management or high blood pressure numbers. (Kanne 10/31)

Boston Globe: Southcoast To Pull Physicians From Tufts Network 
Southcoast Health System is planning to cut its ties with Tufts Medical Center’s physician network and launch its own independent doctors group. The New Bedford-based health system filed plans with the state to leave the Tufts network at the end of the year. The change, which applies to about 425 doctors, comes after Southcoast abandoned merger talks with Care New England Health System of Providence. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/31)

Chicago Tribune: Zombies Would Rule Chicago In 60 Days, A Real Disease-Tracking Computer Says 
Chicago would be overtaken by a zombie invasion in 60 days. That’s according to a team of scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, who came to the conclusion using a high-powered computer model that’s normally used for much more serious work on infectious diseases. “The people of Chicago could suffer dire consequences at the hands of a zombie invasion,” said Chick Macal, a senior systems engineer in Argonne’s Global Security Sciences Division. “No part of the city would be spared.” While the scenario is obviously fictional, Macal and his colleagues on the Argonne Infectious Disease Modeling Team calculated the timeline by running the numbers through an intricately designed system that was originally created to analyze the spread of real diseases. (Meyerson, 10/31)

San Jose Mercury News: Safeway Teams Up With Weight Loss Clinic Inside 5 Bay Area Stores
Could a trip to the grocery store help you lose weight? A unique partnership between five Bay Area Safeway stores and a longtime Southern California medical weight loss firm is giving it a try. The Pleasanton-based supermarket chain is doing what some weight-challenged consumers might call the unthinkable: leasing space to Lean for Life by Lindora Clinic adjacent to in-store pharmacies at Safeways in San Jose, Menlo Park, Danville, Dublin and Livermore. (Seipel, 10/31)

Orlando Sentinel/Tampa Bay Tribune: State To Sanford Burnham: Give $77.6 Million Back
State officials are demanding that Sanford Burnham Prebys return $77.6 million in state taxpayer money it received as part of a 2006 deal, the latest development in the downward spiral of a project meant to bring high-paying biotech jobs to Orlando. Sanford Burnham is in breach of its contract with the state and must return the funds within two weeks or face legal action, state officials wrote in a letter sent Friday. (Rohrer, Miller and Shanklin, 10/31)

WSBTV: Testing Underway After Schools' Water Tests Positive For Lead 
Additional testing is underway after 4 out of 5 DeKalb County schools tested positive for the presence of lead in its drinking water... The schools are taking action to keep kids safe by shutting off the water to the fountains where the water tested positive for lead. (Washington, 10/31)

Georgia Health News: Medical School Seeking To Expand Ga. Footprint To Underserved Area 
The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, which already has a campus in suburban Atlanta, is moving to develop another med school location in Georgia. PCOM has signed an agreement with Colquitt Regional Medical Center in Moultrie, in southwest Georgia, to produce a feasibility plan and present it to an accreditation committee for osteopathic colleges. The agreement was announced Monday. (Miller, 10/31)

Denver Post: Howard Dental Center Provides Life-Changing Dental Work To Patients With HIV Or AIDS 
Staff from the center say the stigma still exists and patients often arrive at the center after being turned away from other dental offices. Some patients travel up to four hours to reach Howard Dental Center on Cherry Creek Drive. Others haven’t had dental care in two years. One side effect of HIV/AIDS medication is dry mouth, which can lead to cavities and periodontal disease. Dental ailments can exacerbate pre-existing medical problems or create new ones, so the center aims to address health issues by working with other clinics. (Siegelbaum, 10/31)

Boston Globe: Protesters Demonstrate At Controversial Canton Center For Troubled Youth
More than 100 demonstrators gathered Monday afternoon in front of a controversial school to demand that it stop administering skin shock treatments to special needs students. The protesters converged on the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center shortly after 3:30 p.m., organizers said. (Anderson, 10/31)

San Jose Mercury News: Hayward Man Who Blew Himself Up At Oakland Clinic Identified 
A wheelchair-bound man who blew himself up with a pipe bomb two weeks ago at an East Oakland health clinic was identified by authorities Monday as Ralph Mark Harris, 60, of Hayward. The Alameda County Coroner’s Office said they had no occupation listed for Harris. The case is being investigated as a suicide but has not yet been officially classified, officials said. (Harris, 10/31)

Miami Herald: Teaching Children Why Grandma Can’t Recall Their Name 
Being 10 minutes late to work saved Kent Karosen’s life 16 years ago [on Sept. 11, 2001]. Since then, [he] has dedicated a good part of his life to helping the families of his co-workers and other groups, including an Alzheimer’s research center. Karosen, 51, who now lives in Miami Beach, co-wrote a children’s book, “Why Can’t Grandma Remember My Name?” that explores the heartbreak that can happen to a family when confronted with Alzheimer’s, a neurological condition that affects 5.4 million Americans, a number that is expected to nearly triple by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. He co-wrote the book with children’s book writer Chana Stiefel. (Figueroa, 10/31)