State Highlights: Health Department Bans Foods With CBD In New York City Restaurants; Texas Mediation Program Tries To Aid Patients With Surprise Medical Bills

The New York Times: New York City Cracks Down On CBD Edibles, Saying The Cannabis Derivative Is Unsafe
For months, the top-selling item at Fat Cat Kitchen was a cookie packed with chocolate chunks, dusted with salt flakes and infused with the stylish cannabis derivative cannabidiol, or CBD. But as of last week, customers won’t find the cookie on the Manhattan restaurant and bakery’s menu. On Friday, a health inspector sealed up the restaurant’s supply of CBD-infused baked goods in a plastic bag and told Fat Cat Kitchen to stop selling them as part of a citywide embargo on food products containing CBD. (Gold, 2/5)

The Wall Street Journal: NYC Cracks Down On Businesses Selling CBD-Infused Food And Drinks
It is unknown how many restaurants in New York City serve products containing CBD, which is a nonintoxicating derivative of the cannabis plant, but more are offering it in drinks and food for their purported therapeutic benefits. The crackdown began in January and has only affected a handful of restaurants. A spokeswoman for the health department said restaurants in New York City aren’t permitted to add anything to food or drink that isn’t approved as safe to eat. The department is following guidelines issued in December from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (West, 2/5)

NPR: Texas Offers Mediation For Surprise Medical Bills
In Texas, a growing number of patients are turning to a little-known state mediation program to deal with unexpected hospital bills. The bills in question often arrive in patients’ mailboxes with shocking balances that run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. When patients, through no fault of their own, are treated outside their insurers’ network of hospitals, the result can be a surprise bill. Other times, insurers won’t agree to pay what the hospital charges, and the patient is on the hook for the balance. (Lopez, 2/5)

The Washington Post: Hawaii Bill Aims To Ban Cigarettes For People Younger Than 100
Lawmakers in Hawaii have proposed legislation that would begin phasing out cigarettes in the state, banning them altogether within the next several years. At least, for people younger than 100. The bipartisan bill, H.B. 1509, aims to raise the legal minimum age to use cigarettes to exclude everyone but centenarians by 2024 to “keep people healthy and alive in the Aloha State,” state Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R), one of the sponsors of the bill, said Tuesday afternoon in a phone interview with The Washington Post. (Bever, 2/5)

Arizona Republic: Hacienda Rape Suspect Nathan Sutherland Enters Not Guilty Plea
The former Hacienda nurse accused of raping and impregnating an incapacitated woman under his care entered a not guilty plea Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court. The arraignment hearing was 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland’s first public court appearance since Phoenix police announced they matched his DNA to the child born to a 29-year-old female patient at Hacienda HealthCare last month. (Burkitt, 2/5)

Arizona Republic: Hacienda HealthCare: Arizona Governor Asks For Investigation
Gov. Doug Ducey called for aninvestigation into patient care, financial fraud and sexual-harassment claims at Hacienda HealthCare, which operates the Phoenix facility where an incapacitated patient was raped and gave birth. The nonprofit company is also in trouble with two state agencies for not hiring an independent third-party manager as they ordered — an issue Ducey mentions in the letter he sent to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Tuesday. (Innes, 2/5)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: N.H. Seeing Rise In Cases Of Hepatitis A, Often Linked To Homelessness And Drug Use
New Hampshire may be experiencing the start of an outbreak of hepatitis A, a highly contagious liver infection caused by a virus that is often passed on objects, food or drinks contaminated by an infected person. The virus can survive for months on surfaces. The state Division of Public Health Services says that over the past three months, 13 people have been diagnosed with acute hepatitis A infections, including 7 in January, compared to an average 1 to 10 people annually over the past five years. (2/5)

Georgia Health News: Claiming Deception, Two Patients Sue Anthem Over Rift With WellStar
Two Cobb County residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, saying the insurer misled Georgia consumers into believing WellStar Health System was in its exchange network when they signed up for coverage. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Atlanta, is the latest chapter in the dispute over the exchange contract between Anthem and WellStar. (Miller, 2/5)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans Drinking Water Used To Cool Sewerage & Water Board Turbines, But Deemed Safe
Sewerage & Water Board and New Orleans officials are reassuring residents that the city’s drinking water is safe to consume after it was determined a large amount of treated water circulates through the utility’s power turbines to cool them before heading to the public. They outlined a plan for fixing the issue Tuesday (Feb. 5) that figures into the utility’s long-term aim to eventually use more power purchased from Entergy than in-house power generated from the turbines. State health officials, meanwhile, cited the utility Tuesday for violating state sanitary code due to the turbine-cooling water setup, though they agreed with the utility that the city’s water is and has been safe to drink. (Evans, 2/5)

The Washington Post: Vape Pen Explodes In Face: Fort Worth Man Dies After E-Cigarette Explodes In His Mouth
William Brown had errands to run on a chilly Texas evening, and his grandmother was happy to lend him her light-blue Lincoln Town Car. Brown stopped at a store selling vaporizer smoking pens outside Fort Worth on Jan. 27. He sat alone in the parked car, put his lips to a pen, and soon after, an explosion sent shards of metal into his face and neck, said Alice Brown, his grandmother. (Horton, 2/5)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Metro-Atlanta Sex Trafficking Arrests Rise Before Super Bowl
There were 169 arrests during an 11-day investigation into human trafficking throughout metro Atlanta leading up to the Super Bowl, the FBI said Tuesday. But that substantial number came as no surprise to the investigators involved. (Stevens, 2/5)

Kaiser Health News: Scooter Madness In Austin Puts Safety Concerns In High Gear
University of Texas star baseball shortstop David Hamilton hit a pothole riding an electric scooter, tearing his Achilles tendon and requiring surgery. He’ll miss the season. Cristal Glangchai, the CEO for a nonprofit, hit a rock riding her scooter, landing her on the pavement just blocks from home. “I lost control and ended up getting a concussion and a broken rib,” said Glangchai, a 41-year-old mother of four. (Jayson, 2/6)

The Associated Press: Ex-Tennessee Nurse Accused Of Fatal Drug Swap Error Indicted
A former hospital nurse in Tennessee has been indicted on accusations that she accidentally gave a drug used in executions to a patient who then died. News outlets cite a statement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation saying 35-year-old Radonda Leanne Vaught was indicted Friday on reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse charges. The statement says the former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse’s actions were responsible for the death of 75-year-old Charlene Murphey. (2/5)