Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Second-Largest School District In US Enacts Strict Screen-Time Limits
The Washington Post: Nation’s Second-Largest School District Passes Strict New Screen Time Rules For Students
Los Angeles public schools will ban screens for its youngest learners and limit device usage for other students, marking one of the most aggressive attempts to restrict the amount of time children spend on devices at school. The new rules, approved on Tuesday, will be phased in starting in August following backlash to the devices districts nationwide have spent billions on since the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles school board had passed a resolution in April that required the district to limit students’ screen time. (Lumpkin, 6/23)
More news from California —
Los Angeles Times: 9th Circuit Blocks Law To Prevent 'Forced Outing' Of Trans Students
The appellate court granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a law that bars school employees from disclosing a student’s gender identity, sexual orientation or expression to parents without the student's consent. (Sharp, 6/22)
Los Angeles Times: Bill To Limit Prison Off-Ramp For The Mentally Ill Could Soon Head To Newsom
Citing a series of violent crimes that followed criminal defendants being spared of convictions due to diagnosed mental illnesses, state lawmakers have pushed forward legislation backed by California prosecutors to limit who can qualify. (Queally, 6/18)
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Other health news from across the U.S. —
Bridge Michigan: Michigan Forgives $200M In Medical Debt
Michigan took another step Monday in its effort to eliminate medical debt for thousands of residents. The state announced it would wipe out $74 million in medical debt for 71,871 individuals. It’s the second round of a program that began last year, when the state said it would help residents erase more than $144 million in medical debt. The move comes amid a bipartisan push to offer patients more protections from collections by keeping them from going underwater on their hospital bills. (Newman, 6/23)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Council Again Delays Money For Nurses At St. Louis County Jail
The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday, in front of an angry audience, delayed approving money to keep medical staff working at the jail and juvenile detention center after contracts expire next week. County health Director Dr. Kanika Cunningham said the county will prepare to care for over 1,200 detainees with a skeleton nursing staff because of the council’s delay. (Landis, 6/23)
The Colorado Trust: Universal Basic Food Pilot Program Tackles Hunger In New Way
For years, the money on Jessie Dorris’ electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, card was enough to buy groceries for herself and her son. As a single mom who was working to improve their lives, she carefully maintained a tight budget every month. But grocery costs kept going up, and despite Dorris remaining frugal with her spending, the money wasn’t stretching as far. (Hindi, 6/24)
The Texas Tribune: Three Texas Health Priorities Have Hit Roadblocks
Last year, Texas became the first state to require warning labels on thousands of food and beverages containing common 44 dyes or additives, cleared the way for ivermectin to be sold without a prescription and approved a $3 billion fund for dementia research. All three were headline-making in their own right. But nine months later, all three bills — considered health priorities by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows — have run aground, either stuck in the courts or left to linger in the state agency rulemaking process. (Langford, 6/23)
AP: Army Sergeant Gets Life Sentence For Georgia Base Shootings
An Army sergeant was sentenced to life in a military prison Tuesday for shootings last summer that wounded five people at a base in Georgia. A military judge at Fort Stewart sentenced Sgt. Quornelius Radford to life with a possibility of parole, local news outlets reported, after a court-martial last week in which the soldier was convicted of attempted murder. Army prosecutors accused Radford, 29, of targeting leaders of his supply unit when he opened fire with a personal handgun last August. He wounded four fellow soldiers and his then-fiance, Raekwon Smith, who testified he was shot after following Radford onto Fort Stewart fearing the soldier was suicidal. (6/23)
Mirror Indy: Arrest Highlights How Some Go From Hospital To Jail
Adilah Patton went to the emergency room at Eskenazi Health. After being discharged, the 21-year-old spent the night in the waiting room. It was January 2018. Patton was trying to stay warm that winter; the temperature outside was 34 degrees and she had no home of her own. Hospital police arrested her for trespassing. Eskenazi’s officers wrote in their report that Patton had previously caused “a disturbance” at the hospital by loitering. They gave her another trespass card with orders: unless seeking medical treatment, stay away. (Molloy, 6/23)
Bloomberg: AI And Funding Cuts Worsen Crisis For Child Abuse Investigators
Last month, former law enforcement officer Anthony Maez, 62, was shopping at Target when a child in the next aisle started to cry. The sound triggered a memory of a scene he had watched while investigating violent sex crimes against kids, and he had to escape the store. Maez’s life has been routinely interrupted by traumatic flashbacks like this. It’s the burden he carries after spending more than a decade pursuing predators without receiving adequate mental health support. (Levine and Wagner, 6/23)
