State Highlights: The Crackdown On Doctors That Never Materialized; Key West’s Sole Community Provider Still Grappling With Aftermath Of Storm

Los Angeles Times: Why Hasn't California Cracked Down On Anti-Vaccination Doctors?
A year ago, California officials appeared to be coming down hard on doctors and parents who were reluctant to vaccinate children. The state had just implemented one of the strictest vaccination laws in the nation. The medical board was threatening to pull the license of Dr. Robert Sears, a celebrity in the anti-vaccine community. One vaccine skeptic called the case against Sears “a shot across all the doctors’ bows.” (Karlamangla, 11/6)

Modern Healthcare: In The Eye Of The Storm: Hurricane Irma Puts Sole Community Provider In Key West To The Test
More than a month after Hurricane Irma tore through the Florida Keys, Lower Keys Medical Center is still grappling with its aftermath. About 5% of the facility's employees still haven't returned after the storm devastated the Keys and flattened their homes. Another 28 employees lost everything. The majority of those employees are shuffling from one hotel to the next, while Lower Keys Medical does what it can to find them shelter. (Livingston, 11/4)

The Washington Post: Two More Former UMC Employees Criticize Consultants As Contract Vote Looms
Two more high-ranking former employees of the District’s only public hospital stepped forward Monday to criticize the firm running the facility, even as the company’s owner fought back on the eve of a high-stakes D.C. Council vote on whether it should continue to manage United Medical Center. Pamela Lee, the hospital’s former chief operating officer, and Stanley Pierre, its former quality director, said the consulting firm, Veritas of Washington, had taken steps to remove critical safeguards for patients — particularly by understaffing the department that ensures quality of care and compliance with state and federal laws. (Jamison, 11/6)

Kaiser Health News: Ohio’s Drug-Pricing Ballot Question Triggers Voter Confusion
Lawmakers in the nation’s capital have yet to grapple with rising drug costs, but Ohio voters are being asked — in a single ballot-box question next week — to figure out how best to lower the tab the state pays for prescriptions. The Drug Price Relief Act, better known as Ohio Issue 2, has been promoted and pilloried in a dizzying crush of robocalls, TV and radio ads, and direct mailings. (Luthra, 11/7)

Georgia Health News: Survey Finds Georgia Employers Have Health Costs Below Average
Georgia employers’ health care costs are lower than the national average, a recent survey has found. And the survey — done by New York-based Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting company — finds that employers in the Peach State offer what are called “consumer-driven health plans’’ at a greater rate than their national counterparts. (Miller, 11/6)

Los Angeles Times: San Diego's Hepatitis A Outbreak Continues To Grow, But More Slowly
Though the case count in San Diego's ongoing hepatitis A outbreak increased again Monday, officials said that the number of new infections continues to slow. In a presentation to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, showed a chart that indicated there were 31 cases in October, significantly fewer than the 81 reported in September and 94 in August — the largest total of the outbreak so far. (Sisson, 11/6)

The Tennessean: ER Doctor-Owned Urgent Care Clinic To Open In West Nashville
An urgent care clinic owned by local emergency room physicians is on track to open in West Nashville later this month. Physicians Urgent Care will be open seven days a week for people who need treatment for minor issues for which an emergency room trip is not necessary, said Dr. Ty Babcock, managing partner and one of seven physician co-owners. (Fletcher, 11/6)

Minnesota Public Radio: Tuberculosis Outbreak Linked To Several Minnesota Deaths
Minnesota's multi-drug resistant tuberculosis outbreak spread innocently enough, in part through hours of card games played by Hmong elders at a senior center in Ramsey County. Now, the outbreak is the largest of its kind in the nation, infecting 17 people across the state. (Yuen, 11/6)

California Healthline: Breathing Fire: Health Is A Casualty Of Climate-Fueled Blazes
As the deadliest fires in California history swept through leafy neighborhoods here, Kathleen Sarmento fled her home in the dark, drove to an evacuation center and began setting up a medical triage unit. Patients with burns and other severe injuries were dispatched to hospitals. She set about treating many people whose symptoms resulted from exposure to polluted air and heavy smoke. (Upton and Feder Ostrov, 11/7)

Cincinnati Enquirer: More Cancer Care Is Coming To Greater Cincinnati. Here’s How And Why.
Two Cincinnati area hospital systems plan new facilities that could change how local residents get screened, diagnosed and treated for cancer. Here are some reasons for the evolving landscape, and what it means to you. (Saker, 11/6)

Minnesota Public Radio: HCMC Experiments With New Ways To Detect And Treat Brain Injuries
Many people suffer from brain injuries from falls, collisions or accidents — and finding a cure for those injuries has doctors stumped. The Brain Injury Research Lab at Hennepin County Medical Center is studying better ways to detect and treat brain injuries. (Weber, 11/6)

New Orleans Times Picayune: In 4 Days, 2 Inmates Hospitalized After New Orleans Jail Stay Have Died
Two inmates died within four days of each other after each was transported to the hospital from an Orleans Parish jail facility, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office. The deaths do not appear to be related. The sheriff's office earlier on Monday issued a statement saying 27-year-old Evan Sullivan died Sunday (Nov. 5) at a hospital "of apparent natural causes," after he was taken there from the jail. Hours later, The New Orleans Advocate reported a second inmate had died in recent days. The agency then issued a second news release with information about that death. (Lane, 11/6)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Teens Now Required To Learn What It Means To Become Organ Donor
As of this academic year, students in high-school health classes across Ohio are being exposed to information about organ donation, thanks to a new state law that requires the education. While such lessons have been available in some schools for years, this is the first time they’re required by the state, said Jenny Hudak, who heads up community education outreach for Lifeline of Ohio. (Viviano, 11/6)

Dallas Morning News: New $25 Million Medical Complex Set For Garland
A Grapevine-based medical real estate company is building a $25 million medical complex in Garland. The North Garland Medical Center will be constructed by New Era Partners at 7217 Telecom Parkway. The 3-story 95,000 square foot of healthcare development space will be built near Bush Turnpike at Lookout Drive and Telecom Parkway. (Brown, 11/6)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Mercury Spill Closes Portions Of Cincinnati VA Medical Center
An environmental response team responded to the Cincinnati VA Medical Center last week after mercury leaked out of an old pipe that was moved during construction. ...The mercury spill is the latest minor building failures at the Corryville hospital, which serves more than 44,000 veterans in Greater Cincinnati. (Brookbank, 11/6)

Texas Tribune: Buda Voters To Decide Whether To Reintroduce Fluoride To Tap Water
Buda voters on Tuesday will decide whether the Central Texas city should again add fluoride to its water supply. The widespread and decades-old practice of fluoridation — roughly two-thirds of Americans live in communities with fluoridated water supplies — is a federally recognized public health policy meant to curb tooth decay. (Riordan, 11/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Tests Show That Lead Levels In Bay Area Drinking Water Are Not Dangerous
Despite recent alarming revelations that children in 10 San Francisco and Oakland schools had been exposed to lead contamination well above federal safety standards, data from household water quality tests performed this year by the Bay Area’s two major utilities indicate that lead levels remain well below dangerous thresholds in the vast majority of the region’s homes. (Fracassa, 11/6)