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Lawmakers approved a new rule designed to grant more due process rights to mental health patients who are transferred to the state prison. But as advocates for mental health reform argued these new protections should not have to exist in the first place. (McDermott, 7/20)

Some incarcerated men who have mental illnesses may be put into a new program to help them get care and avoid returning to jail. County supervisors approved a pilot project this past week that puts men who are in jail with mild to moderate mental illness in an intensive treatment regimen of 12-step meetings, outpatient therapy sessions and neighborhood support programs. The hope is that the system will make it easier for participants to better transition back into communities and reduce recidivism. (Stewart, 7/20)

A bill guaranteeing protections for pregnant workers was sent to the governor Thursday, part of a groundswell of support for pregnant workers’ rights that would make Massachusetts the latest in a long line of states to pass similar legislation in recent years. ...The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would require employers to provide “reasonable accommodation” for pregnant women, giving them the right to less strenuous duties, more frequent breaks, and temporary transfers, among other provisions, provided they don’t cause a business “significant difficulty or expense.” (Johnston, 7/20)

KU Medical Center on Thursday officially opened its new health education building, an $82 million, 170,000-square-foot facility that will serve as the primary teaching venue for its medical, nursing and allied health profession schools. The state-of-the-art building, at the northeast corner of Rainbow Boulevard and 39th Street, was funded with $26 million in state money, $21 million from the University of Kansas Medical Center, $25 million from the Hall Family Foundation and the rest in additional private money. (Margolies, 7/20)

CareFirst's CEO put a price tag Thursday on a dispute between the health insurer and Anne Arundel Medical Center that could affect thousands of county residents. In a conference call with reporters, CareFirst President and CEO Chet Burrell said a recent reduction in fee payments to the hospital "is something in the order of $1 million" out of the $200 million the insurance company pays to AAMC each year. Meanwhile, he said, the hospital has countered with its own list of requests that adds up to a $13 million increase in professional fees. (Yeager, 7/20)

Tobacco companies and retailers are pushing back against Minneapolis leaders’ move to restrict the sales of menthol cigarettes in the city, bringing in lobbyists and appealing to the public. ...Anti-smoking advocates say the fight against this restriction is bigger than they’ve previously seen at the local level. (Nelson, 7/20)

Certain hearing aids could soon be as easy to buy as reading glasses, a shift consumer and interest groups say would dramatically boost access to hearing help for the estimated 1 million Arizonans who need it. ...The Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing for months has fought the federal Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017, which would create a new class of over-the-counter hearing devices for adults. (Polletta, 7/20)

California public health officials on Thursday announced a large hike in the number of reported Valley Fever cases in the state, with illness onset in 2016 — but they don’t know what’s behind the increase. From January through December 2016, 5,372 new cases of Valley Fever were reported to California Department of Public Health corresponding to an incidence rate of 13.7 cases per 100,000 people. (Seipel, 7/20)

A Washington, D.C.-based environmental advocacy group sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, arguing the federal government isn't properly policing air pollution permits the state of Texas issued to some of the largest industrial facilities in the U.S. The Environmental Integrity Project — founded by former EPA officials — alleges that permits the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued to mega-plants across the Houston, Dallas and East Texas regions are illegal because the limits set on their emissions are too high, allowing them to spew too much pollution into the air. (Collier, 7/20)

State Sen. Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights, introduced a resolution in the Ohio Senate on Wednesday that would make a formal request to the feds to drop marijuana from the list of controlled substances. The resolution, which would have to pass both the Ohio House and Senate, doesn’t carry much clout. (Bischoff, 7/20)

Orlando’s Westminster Towers retirement community hired a company to treat its water systems Thursday after a former resident contracted Legionnaires’ disease. Experts from Nalco Water flushed out the pipes using a process called hyperchlorination, which raises the levels of chlorine in the water, Westminster communications director Wes Meltzer said. (Padro Ocasio, 7/20)