Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Students In LA Permitted To Carry Overdose-Stopping Drug Narcan
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Students Will Be Able To Carry Narcan In Schools
Students will be able to carry Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose, in Los Angeles Unified schools under a soon-to-be-updated policy. The move, announced to school board members in a message from Supt. Alberto M. Carvalho, comes amid continued alarm about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that has been consumed unknowingly by teens in counterfeit pills that look like Xanax or OxyContin. (Alpert Reyes, 2/1)
AP: Tenn. GOP Lawmakers Block Questions On Cuts To HIV Funding
Republican lawmakers in Tennessee on Wednesday continued to block Democratic lawmakers from questioning the newly appointed health czar’s contentious decision to forgo nearly $9 million in federal funding designed to prevent and treat HIV. Earlier this month, news broke that Tennessee would walk away from the funding at the end of May after state officials initially attempted to oust Planned Parenthood from the program in November amid Republican furor over the group’s long promotion of abortion access and transgender health care. Abortion is currently banned in Tennessee while Republicans are pushing to prohibit gender-affirming care to minors. (Kruesi, 2/1)
New Hampshire Public Radio: NH Health Providers Say State's Low Medicaid Rates Add To Staffing ‘Crisis’
Health care providers in New Hampshire are pushing for a major increase in Medicaid rates this year, saying it would help them address increasingly dire staff shortages. During a hearing Wednesday, health care leaders told lawmakers that the reimbursement they receive from the state’s Medicaid program often falls short of what it actually costs to provide care. That makes it hard to pay competitive wages, at a time when organizations across the health care sector are struggling to fill vacancies. (Cuno-Booth, 2/2)
North Carolina Health News: Policy Change Removes One Barrier To Prescribing Buprenorphine
Every morning when Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram goes into the office in Arlington, Virginia, she walks by walls covered in photos of people of all genders, ages and races. She passes by portraits of more than 4,800 faces — all of people who died as a result of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. (Crumpler, 2/2)
WMFE: Mobile Unit Will Bring Denture Care To Seniors In Osceola County
Osceola Community Health Services will add a mobile unit this year fitted for seniors who need dentures. Last week, the Osceola County Commission signaled support for a $300,000 grant to build a mobile denture unit. Commission Chair Viviana Janer said the trailer, coming in about six months, will bring low-cost dentures to seniors in far-flung neighborhoods, like Holopaw in eastern Osceola. (Byrnes, 2/1)
Also —
Des Moines Register: Iowa Woman Assumed Dead Found To Be Alive At Funeral Home, Report Says
A report from the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals says the mistaken death declaration occurred on Jan. 3 after a staff member at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center reported that the woman, 66, had died about 6 a.m. The report said the woman, who had early onset dementia, anxiety and depression, had been in hospice care since Dec. 28. (Block, 2/1)
The Colorado Sun: People With Disabilities Stranded By Unplowed Streets In Denver
For nearly two weeks after a late December snowstorm that left 7 inches of snow on the ground in Denver, when Julie Reiskin needed to leave her home in the Clayton neighborhood, she had to roll her wheelchair down the middle of busy streets and then station herself in the street to flag down a public bus. That experience, she said, was “terrifying.” And it was due to Denver’s snow plowing protocol. (McCoy, 1/30)
The Washington Post: In Custody Dispute, Va. Judge Orders Breastfeeding Mom To Use Bottle
When Arleta Ramirez’s daughter was born in July, there was no question what the girl’s diet would be. Breastmilk is endorsed by the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics, which cites “unequivocal evidence” it protects newborns from disease. Ramirez was also a breastfeeding veteran — she’d breastfed her son for two years. However, Ramirez’s plan — and her daughter’s food supply — soon ran into an unforeseen obstacle: a custody dispute. (Moyer, 2/1)
