State Highlights: Vt. Gov. Vetoes Pot Bill; Pa. Gov. Taps Teresa Miller To Head Proposed Health And Human Services Department

WBUR: Vermont's Governor Vetoes Recreational Pot Bill
Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, said on Wednesday he was vetoing a bill to legalize marijuana, and sending it back to the legislature for changes... Though he said he views the issue "through a libertarian lens," Scott vetoed the bill due to concerns about detecting and penalizing impaired drivers, protecting children, and the role and makeup of a Marijuana Regulatory Commission. (Wamsley, 5/24)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Nominee For New Pa. Health And Human Services Dept. Digging In
Teresa Miller, nominated Tuesday by Gov. Wolf to be the inaugural secretary of the proposed Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services, said she is a big believer in her boss’s “government that works” mantra.“...Advocates worry that initiatives, such as heightened oversight of nursing homes by the Department of Health, could fizzle because of the proposed consolidation of the departments of health, human services, aging, and drug and alcohol programs. (Brubaker, 4/24)

ProPublica: In A Lonely Corner Of Coney Island, A Fight Over Care For The Vulnerable 
Today, Oceanview has taken on a distinctive role in the latest act of the legal saga surrounding the adult homes. Lawyers for the adult home industry have sued the state on behalf of a single former resident at Oceanview, a man who had taken advantage of the judge’s plan and moved into alternative housing, but who the lawyers say now wants to return. The man missed his friends and the conveniences of the Coney Island neighborhood, the lawyers argue. (Sapien, 5/24)

The Star Tribune: Annandale Nursing Home Is Faulted In Patient's Death 
An Annandale nursing home resident developed internal bleeding and died after being denied crucial blood-thinning medication for 15 days, according to a state investigation that blamed the death on the facility’s procedural shortcomings. The state Health Department’s investigation into the stroke patient’s Nov. 28 death concluded that the nonprofit Annandale Care Center “had no system, policies or procedures in place” to ensure that certain medications and some other services were being provided as prescribed. (Walsh, 5/24)

Boston Globe: Surgeon Who Raised Concerns About Double-Booked Surgeries Faced Retaliation, Judge Rules 
A prominent Boston neurosurgeon was illegally forced out of his previous job at a New York hospital for strongly objecting to a policy that allowed another surgeon to perform complex spine surgeries on two patients simultaneously, a judge ruled. Double-booking, as the practice is sometimes called, triggered a fierce dispute among doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in recent years, leading to the 2015 dismissal of an orthopedic surgeon who opposed it. But Dr. James Holsapple may be the first doctor to win a lawsuit alleging he faced retaliation for challenging the practice. (Saltzman, 5/24)

The Star Tribune: 26 Patients Die After Upgrading Abbott Blood Pump At Home 
At least 26 patients in advanced heart failure have died after replacing the controller for an Abbott Laboratories blood pump while out of the hospital. Abbott has issued an alert for 28,882 HeartMate II controllers that includes new software and alarm guides, after reports of 70 incidents in which the life-preserving device malfunctioned after a patient changed out the controller at home. Those incidents included 26 deaths and 19 injuries. (Carlson, 5/24)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas Senate Approves Priority House Bills To Address Foster Care Woes
The Texas Senate unanimously passed a priority House bill Wednesday that would make several changes to the foster care system, including keeping children at risk of entering foster care with their parents. House Bill 7, filed by Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, would, among several other provisions, bar a court from taking children away from parents on the grounds that they home-schooled their children, were economically disadvantaged, had reasonably disciplined their children or had been charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor. (Chang, 5/24)

San Jose Mercury News: Second Botulism Death Unrelated To ‘Extremely Rare’ Nacho Cheese Botulism 
The country’s foremost researchers on botulism in dairy products are calling the recent outbreak at a gas station in Walnut Grove a “perfect storm” of circumstances that left one dead and nine sickened... Although extremely rare, Northern California has seen two deaths from foodborne botulism in the last few months. Within the last month, Napa County has had one death from botulism related to canned goods, according to county health officials. (Davis, 5/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Nearly 1 In 4 San Franciscans Struggle With Hunger 
According to the SF-Marin Food Bank, 23 percent of San Francisco residents struggle with hunger. The number is a striking amount, and much higher than the city’s homeless population, which the city said was 6,886 in 2015 (though others estimate it to be much higher), making it less than 1 percent of the population. (Duggan, 5/24)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: McAuliffe Signs Bill On Jail Deaths Related To Jamycheal Mitchell On Same Day Portsmouth Prosecutor Requests Special Grand Jury Into His Death At Hampton Roads Regional Jail 
In the name of Jamycheal Mitchell on Wednesday, the state’s highest elected official signed a bill in Richmond strengthening oversight of Virginia’s 60 local and regional jails, and a prosecutor in Portsmouth requested a special grand jury convene to investigate how the mentally ill 24-year-old wasted away behind bars... Still, no information has been provided publicly that explains what led to Mitchell’s death. His family has said he was physically healthy but had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (Kleiner, 5/24)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: 'This Is A Public Health Epidemic:' Experts Speak To State Commission On Preventing Childhood Trauma In Virginia
Childhood traumatic experiences have strong links to dozens of adult health conditions, such as HIV, heart disease and cancer. In states that track such data, childhood trauma is considered a cause in between 11 and 89 percent of those health conditions. On average, whenever a toxin impacts more than 10 percent of health conditions, awareness grows and lawmakers, advocates and public health officials become interested in how to stop it to save lives, said Allison Sampson-Jackson. (O'Connor, 5/24)

Arizona Republic: Would Legalizing Marijuana Bring Money To Arizona Schools?
A fact sheet presented by the anti-marijuana group Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, which helped defeat Prop. 205 last November, mentions projected social costs outweigh the revenue provided by legalization... Merilee Fowler, vice chair of ARDP, said via email that “there are many unintended consequences of legalization that produce costs for the state.” (Jarvis, 5/24)