State Highlights: Michigan Investigates Student Allegations Of Doctor’s Sexual Abuse; Advocates Push Lawmakers To Keep Connecticut’s Religious Vaccine Exemption

The New York Times: Michigan Says It Is Investigating If Team Doctor Abused Students
The University of Michigan said Wednesday that it was investigating whether one of its doctors had assaulted patients across several decades, becoming at least the third Big Ten university to reckon with allegations of sexual misconduct by longtime members of its medical staff. In a statement, Michigan said that “several individuals” had described sexual misconduct by Dr. Robert E. Anderson, who worked for the university for more than 30 years and died in 2008. Although Michigan did not detail the allegations, which it said included episodes as far back as the 1970s, the university’s president, Mark Schlissel, said that the accusations were “disturbing and very serious.” (Blinder and Witz, 2/19)

The Associated Press: University Of Michigan Investigates Doctor Sex Abuse Claims
“It is our understanding from the police investigation that there were rumors and some indication that U-M staff members were aware of Dr. Anderson’s inappropriate medical exams,” said spokesman Rick Fitzgerald. Robert Julian Stone told The Associated Press that Anderson assaulted him during a medical appointment at the university’s health center in 1971. Stone said he alerted university officials last summer, inspired by the national #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. (Karoub, Householder and Foody, 2/19)

The Associated Press: Hundreds Urge Lawmakers To Keep Religious Vaccine Exemption
Hundreds of parents who are skeptical about the safety of vaccines turned out in force Wednesday, hoping to squash the latest proposal to end Connecticut’s religious exemption from certain childhood vaccines. But members of the medical and science community urged members of the General Assembly not to be swayed by the large numbers of advocates who turned out with young children in tow and stickers that read, “In God we trust.” (Haigh, 2/19)

The CT Mirror: Hundreds Turn Out To Testify On Plan To Repeal CT’s Religious Vaccine Exemption
“After looking at the trends, I believe we can no longer afford to put our children at risk of infectious diseases by allowing non-medical exemptions,” Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell told legislators at a public hearing on the  proposal. “We should not wait until our vaccination rates decline any further, or wait for the next measles outbreak, to take action.” Coleman-Mitchell pointed to data gathered by her department that show 134 schools at which fewer than 95% of kindergarteners received a measles vaccination in 2018-19. The 95% threshold is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to maintain herd immunity. (Carlesso, 2/19)

Reuters: Exclusive: SmileDirectClub’s Top Dentist Risks Losing License In California Crackdown
The top dentist and public face of SmileDirectClub is at risk of losing his California license following a two-year state dental board investigation, records reviewed by Reuters show. The California disciplinary process underway against dentist Jeffrey A. Sulitzer, SmileDirectClub’s chief clinical officer, is the latest threat facing the high-flying tele-dentistry firm, which promises to straighten Americans’ teeth without a visit to an orthodontist’s office for costly treatment. (2/19)

The Washington Post: Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office Scrambling To Fill Jobs As Homicides, Drug Deaths Fuel Need For Autopsies
The Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office is scrambling to fill persistent and new vacancies that are threatening its ability to handle a crushing load of cases stemming from the long-running opioid epidemic and a stubbornly high pace of homicides in Baltimore. Compounding the problem, the state’s well-regarded, longtime chief medical examiner left the office at the end of 2019, citing the challenges the office faces in coping with the overdose crisis. An assistant is serving as acting chief examiner while a search is underway. (Cohn, 2/19)

Georgia Health News: House Panel Rejects Health Spending Cuts In Kemp Budget 
Budget writers in the Georgia House of Representatives Tuesday restored some of the spending cuts Gov. Brian Kemp has requested in his mid-year state budget to help offset sluggish tax revenues. The $27.4 billion fiscal 2020 mid-year budget members of the House Appropriations Committee adopted puts back funding for food safety, mental health services, Georgia’s public defenders and the state’s accountability courts. (2/19)

Des Moines Register: Republican Sponsor Pulls Iowa House Bill Banning Conversion Therapy But Says He’ll Bring It Back Next Year
A Republican bill that would ban health care providers from administering the widely discredited practice of “conversion therapy” on LGBTQ children will not advance this year. But the chairman of the House State Government Committee said he’s determined to bring the issue back next session to continue the conversation and address some of the recommendations that LGBTQ rights advocates have for the bill. (Richardson, 2/19)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Families, Activists Call For Outside Review Of Cobb Jail Operations
At least 10 civil rights organizations are calling for an independent investigation of conditions inside the Cobb County jail following extensive complaints about the treatment inmates receive and a string of deaths there in the past year. Groups including the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, ACLU of Georgia, La Gente de Cobb, Cobb Smart Justice, the Cobb branch of the NAACP and KSUnited have started a petition calling for Sheriff Neil Warren to investigate the problems. (Dixon, 2/19)

Georgia Health News: Test At Controversial Medical Sterilization Site In Cobb Is Scrapped
A medical sterilizing facility in Cobb County, closed for months over concerns about toxic pollution, was planning to test new equipment Thursday in the company’s bid to reopen the site. But that testing won’t take place. Cobb County and state officials said Wednesday that the company’s plan had been canceled. (Miller, 2/19)

ABC News: 5 Hospitalized After Vaping Device Found In Indiana School 
Two teachers and three students from an Indiana high school have been hospitalized with suspected vaping-related illnesses. Michael Gasaway, principal of Madison Consolidated High School (MCHS), said the teachers fell ill while monitoring an area in the school’s C-wing. They were taken to hospital as an apparently precautionary measure along with three other students who also displayed minor symptoms. (Smith, 2/20)

North Carolina Health News: Duke University To Ban Vaping On Its Facilities 
Duke University, a college campus with deep roots in tobacco money, is set to go smoke-free this summer, but it’s more than tobacco products that will be banned. Administrators announced in an email to students earlier this month that e-cigarettes and vaping products will be included in the ban, too. (Blythe, 2/20)

Kaiser Health News: In Tornado Alley, Storms Are Even More Dangerous For People With Disabilities 
John High has diabetes, which led to his leg being amputated below the knee two years ago. He has been using a wheelchair since then and hasn’t gotten used to having to work out solutions to everyday problems — such as getting into and out of the shower in the small rental house he shares with his son in Norman, Oklahoma. And when he hears a tornado siren blaring out its high-pitched warning, he feels a spasm of fear and dread. He knows he’s on his own. “I just pray. That’s all I can do,” High said. “They expect people to ‘shelter in place,’ but I don’t have anywhere safe to go.” (Fortier, 2/20)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Conversion Therapy Ban Bill Tabled; Effort Could Continue Next Year 
A House panel tabled a bill Wednesday that would ban Iowa health care providers from trying to change a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. House State Government Committee Chair Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said people on both sides of the issue raised too many concerns about his proposal to advance it ahead of this week’s legislative deadline. “It would be ridiculous for us to pass a conversion therapy ban that the LGBTQ groups and Democrats don’t support,” Kaufmann said. “That wouldn’t make any sense.” He added he will continue working on legislation to ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ children next year. (Sostaric, 2/19)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: NorthSide Gets More Time To Finance Hospital Project After Missing Deadline
ST. LOUIS — Top city leaders on Wednesday yet again extended a key financing deadline on a $20 million, three-bed hospital proposed as part of developer Paul McKee’s sweeping NorthSide Regeneration plan. NorthSide had until the end of 2019 to prove it could finance the urgent care facility, or it stood to lose $6.42 million in tax subsidies for the project. Now the controversial developer has until August to close on financing — after a city board made up of top elected leaders voted on Wednesday to give more time to the project at Jefferson and Cass avenues. (Barker, 2/19)

Health News Florida: Senators Move Forward With Speaker’s Health Priority
In a sign that negotiations are underway, a Senate health-care panel on Tuesday approved House Speaker Jose Oliva’s top priority of the 2020 legislative session: independent practice for advanced practice registered nurses. The Senate proposal is narrower than the House version (HB 607). But it is the first time senators have agreed to consider the idea of allowing advanced practice registered nurses to provide care independently from physicians. Chris Nuland, a Jacksonville attorney who represents the Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians, told The News Service of Florida he expects the proposal to evolve in the coming weeks as the annual 60-day legislative session draws to an end. (Sexton, 2/19)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania Prison Suicides Are At An All-Time High. Families Blame ‘Reprehensible’ Mental-Health Care.
Alston was one of 15 people in state prison to die by suicide that year — a figure that climbed to 19 suicides in 2019, the most in at least 35 years and likely the highest figure in Pennsylvania’s history. That put the state prison suicide rate at 42 deaths per 100,000 people, a figure that’s double the national average, according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Melamed, 2/20)

Mansfield News Journal: ‘Getting Angry Does Not Constitute Domestic Violence’: Judge Explains Why Slain Ohio Woman Wasn’t Given Protection Order
A judge on Tuesday issued “one of the most heart-wrenching decisions I will ever write,” dismissing a civil protection order requested by Gaberien “Gabe” Clevenger against her husband, Alec Blair, who was arrested and charged in her murder. “This case involves a beautiful young woman whose life was taken,” Judge Heather Cockley of Richland County Domestic Relations Court wrote in her decision. Clevenger’s body was found Feb. 11 in a wooded area on Bowman Street Road. Law enforcement officials have not yet released the manner of how she was killed. (Whitmire, 2/19)

Modern Healthcare: CHS Shrunk Revenue, Footprint Through Divestitures In 2019
Community Health Systems managed to narrow its operating loss in 2019 through divestitures and other strategies, although the shortfall remains substantial. The Franklin, Tenn.-based hospital chain reported Wednesday a net loss to stockholders of $675 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, down from $788 million in 2018. CHS’ net operating revenue was $13.2 billion last year, a 6.7% decline from $14.2 billion in 2018, due largely to having divested 12 hospitals over the course of the year. CHS ended the year with 102 hospitals. (Bannow, 2/19)

Burlington Free Press: UVM Medical Center Cutting Costs To Deal With Financial Difficulties
Battered by skyrocketing drug prices and a tight labor market, the University of Vermont Health Network is cutting expenses and looking for other ways to regain its financial footing, while reassuring patients care won’t suffer. A “perfect storm” of expensive projects and a surprise shutdown of operating rooms pushed the network into a $25 million shortfall in the last fiscal year, followed by a $9.5 million shortfall in the first quarter of this fiscal year, according to the CEO of the network. (D’Ambrosio, 2/19)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Health Museum Creates On-Line Guide To Free Or Low-Cost Care In Missouri
A children’s health education museum in St. Louis has created an on-line community guide to over 100 health services in an effort to help Missouri residents find free or low cost care. “While a visit to the museum can help motivate children and adults to strive for healthier lives, we recognize there are a number of families throughout Missouri who struggle to afford medical care and other health services,” said Shannon Laine, CEO of HealthWorks! Kids’ Museum St. Louis. “By creating the community guide, we aim to help those in need by offering a one-stop resource for those looking to access healthcare organizations, programs and resources at a discounted rate.” The guide is available at hwstl.org under “health resources.” (Munz, 2/19)

Los Angeles Times: Legal Marijuana Use Still Costs People Jobs. A New California Bill Takes On The Issue
California voters legalized pot in 2016. But for many seeking jobs in state government, cannabis use has become an obstacle to getting hired. Now, a spike in the number of job applicants disqualified by state agencies after failing tests for marijuana use has spawned calls for new legislation and debate over whether employment rules should be relaxed given more widespread acceptance of the drug. (McGreevy, 2/19)