Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Va. Gov. Submits Budget Without Plans For Medicaid Expansion; Calif. Children's Dental Clinic Closes Due To Water Contamination
The Washington Post: McAuliffe Submits Cautious Budget That Closes Shortfalls And Boosts Mental-Health Programs
Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday proposed a cautious budget that relies on improved revenue and modest spending cuts to close a shortfall while funding some new initiatives. Unlike in previous years, the plan he submitted to the General Assembly’s finance committees is not built around expanding Medicaid — a fight he has picked, and lost, for three straight sessions with the Republican-controlled legislature. (Schneider, 12/16)
Los Angeles Times: Orange County Children's Dental Clinic Closed After Bacteria Found In New Water System
Orange County health officials have ordered the closure of a children’s dental office in Anaheim after lab tests found bacteria in its new internal water system, which had replaced a system blamed for an earlier outbreak of bacterial infections. (Rocha and Lozano, 12/17)
The Washington Post: Inova Launches Investment Fund To Find Personalized Medicine Innovators
Inova Health System, the giant nonprofit hospital network serving Northern Virginia, is creating a new start-up incubator and investment program focusing on “personalized” medicine innovations. Executives say they plan to invest at least $100 million over the next three to five years making $2 million to $5 million bets on promising young companies with products that have gained some traction in the marketplace. (Gregg, 12/17)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly Discovery For Kids With Leukemia Prepares To Go Global
Initial results from the first-ever international clinical trial of the T-cell treatment, presented recently at the American Society of Hematology meeting, put the pharmaceutical giant [Novartis] far ahead in the high-stakes race to market the first such immunotherapy. The company said it will file early next year for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the pediatric leukemia therapy, and later in 2017 for European regulatory approval. Twenty-five highly specialized medical centers in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia are part of the ongoing trial. Of the first 50 children treated, 41, or 82 percent, had no signs of acute lymphoblastic leukemia three months later. At six months, 24 children remained cancer-free. Those results parallel the high rates of lasting remissions achieved over the last four years in nearly 150 children treated at CHOP. (McCullough, 12/16)
Fresno Bee: Three Clovis West High School Student Suicides In Three Months
Clovis Unified maintains that it has deployed ample resources to educate students and parents. Students, teachers and staff members are encouraged to ask for help and report warning signs. The suicides may be part of a larger issue, as local government and health officials are working to curb an unusually large number of child suicides across Fresno County. (Appleton, 12/16)
Arizona Republic: Jury: Mesa Man Who Owns Arizona One Medical Transportation Bilked AHCCCS Of $1.2 Million
A federal jury has convicted the owner of a Mesa medical transportation company of health-care fraud and aggravated identity theft after he billed Medicaid for thousands of trips that never occurred. Elseddig Elmarioud Musa, owner and operator of Arizona One Medical Transportation, was convicted Dec. 9 in U.S. District Court on 35 counts of health-care fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 6. (Alltucker, 12/16)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Two More Infections Tied To Heart-Surgery Device; Area Total Hits 24
Two more heart-surgery patients in the Philadelphia area have tested positive for a worrisome, slow-growing bacteria that has been linked to a device called a heater-cooler. One of the two patients, at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., has died, though hospital officials said it was not yet clear what role the bacteria may have played in the death. In Pennsylvania, 21 cases have been reported at three facilities, according to the state department of health. (Avril, 12/16)
WBUR: On A 'Eugenics Registry,' A Record Of California's Thousands Of Sterilizations
There's a grim chapter in American history that involves forced sterilization. And for much of this past century, California had one of the most active sterilization programs in the country. A state law from 1909 authorized the surgery for people judged to have "mental disease, which may have been inherited." That law remained on the books until 1979. (12/18)
Columbus Dispatch: Helping Others Helps Volunteers’ Own Health, Research Finds
Scientists have long studied the potential benefits of generosity, and by now the research speaks for itself: Those who give of their time tend to be happier, less stressed and physically healthier than those who do not. (Lagatta, 12/19)
