Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Wisconsin Residents With Disabilities Slam GOP Voting Bills
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Disabled Voters Say GOP Bills Will Make It Harder To Vote In Wisconsin
Wisconsinites with disabilities lashed out Wednesday at Republican lawmakers for passing bills that they said would make it harder for them to vote. “This is a form of bullying and it’s absolutely unacceptable,” said Melanie Ramey of Madison, who faces challenges with voting because she is visually impaired by macular degeneration. “They should be ashamed of themselves for trying to have bills and trying to pass legislation that seeks to disenfranchise some of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable citizens.” (Marley, 5/12)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio's Plan To Distribute Anti-OD Drug Triggers Questions, Claims Of Racial Bias
Ohio is launching a targeted deployment of naloxone, sending 60,000 doses of the antidote for an opioid overdose to 23 counties. The idea is to get ahead of a usual summertime rise in overdoses. Yet one of its partners in distributing the naloxone questions the equity of the plan, calling it racially biased. Harm Reduction Ohio says the state’s plan excludes some areas that have high overdose death rates for Black Ohioans, including parts of Cincinnati and Columbus. It also charges the plan gives an insufficient amount of the drug to rural areas. The heart of the problem: The two sides use different ways to measure the impact of overdoses. (DeMio, 5/12)
North Carolina Health News: House Bill Aims To End Shackling Of Pregnant Prisoners
Fifteen minutes outside Durham, an abandoned hospital stretches across a bed of verdant land. The concrete-potted plants lining the entrance have begun to crumble, with erosion and wear visible on the walls of the red brick building. Long before a global pandemic descended upon the state and its correctional centers, even before Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s first Black president, North Carolina planned to create a home out of the abandoned facility, where incarcerated women could live with their infants and toddlers. (Critchfield, 5/13)
Mississippi Clarion-Ledger: 'Not A Political Issue, A Human Issue': Miss. Health Advocates Want Medicaid Expansion On The Ballot
After a decade of the state Legislature averting Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act, in a state notorious for poor health care, Mississippi advocates say it's time for voters to decide. They want Medicaid expansion, estimated to cover over 200,000 Mississippians, on the 2022 ballot. A coalition of Mississippi medical experts, patients, small business owners and nonprofits initiated a statewide campaign — Yes On 76 — Tuesday morning at the Mississippi Hospital Association's offices in Madison. (Haselhorst, 5/12)
AP: Legionella Bacteria No Longer At West Virginia Hospital
Recent tests show bacteria that causes the severe form of pneumonia known as Legionnaires’ disease is no longer found at a West Virginia-run hospital two weeks after it was detected, hospital officials said. Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington replaced all of its faucets, a hot water heater and installed a recirculation pump, according to a statement Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Resources. (5/12)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Lawsuit Ties Woman’s Death To Real Water
Attorneys have linked a Nevada woman’s death to an outbreak of liver illness that health officials tied to a local bottled water company, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The latest complaint filed against Las Vegas-based Real Water points to a “series of outbreaks” throughout the last six years. An avid Real Water drinker for years, 69-year-old Kathleen Ryerson died from aspirated pneumonia and liver failure on Nov. 11, her sister, Judy Ryerson, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in March. (Ferrara, 5/12)
