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Ronny L. Jackson, the Navy rear admiral whom President Trump unsuccessfully nominated to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, will not return to his previous role as the president’s personal physician, a White House official said Sunday. Jackson, who withdrew as Trump’s VA pick last week, will remain on the staff of the White House medical unit, the official added. Sean Conley, a Navy veteran who took over Jackson’s responsibilities after his nomination, will remain in the role as Trump’s personal doctor. (Parker, 4/29)

Jackson bowed out last week after Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, released a document summarizing allegations by current and former colleagues that Jackson overprescribed pills, drank on the job and created a hostile work environment. Jackson has denied the allegations and has returned to work in the White House Medical Unit. (Johnson, 4/29)

An investigation did not uncover any evidence that President Trump's former nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) drunkenly wrecked a government vehicle after a Secret Service party, White House officials told The Washington Post. The accusation against Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, was one of the more serious allegations the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee examined as part of his confirmation process this month. (Greenwood, 4/27)

President Trump lashed out at Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) on Twitter Saturday afternoon, defending his former pick for Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary, Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson. In the tweet, Trump called Tester "dishonest and sick" for pushing an allegation that Secret Service agents had to stop Jackson from drunkenly banging on the door of a female staffer on an overseas trip in 2015, worrying he would wake then-President Obama. (Bowden, 4/28)

House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy on Sunday said some of the allegations against President Donald Trump’s ill-fated pick for secretary of Veterans Affairs should be investigated. Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the South Carolina Republican said, “I think some of those allegations do warrant being investigated,” referring to a series of allegations levied against the White House physician and now-withdrawn VA secretary nominee, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson. (Beavers, 4/29)

President Donald Trump is distorting some of the reasons why his pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, White House physician Ronny Jackson, abruptly withdrew his nomination. Trump casts late-surfacing allegations against Jackson as entirely partisan. He cites an investigation led by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., even though the review involved interviews with military personnel and was conducted with the knowledge and support of Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the committee considering Jackson’s nomination. (Yen, 4/29)

Ascension President and CEO Anthony Tersigni is among those being considered to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, sources close to the matter say. Other potential candidates include acting Secretary Robert Wilkie and former Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove. House Speaker Paul Ryan suggested that Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, and former congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) should also be considered. (Aguilar, 4/28)

A top Democratic senator is raising questions about the $375,000 salary of Robert Redfield, the new leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who is getting almost twice what his predecessor earned and more than other past directors. In a letter Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) asked for the justification for offering Redfield “a salary significantly higher” than that of his predecessors and other leaders at HHS. (Sun, 4/27)

The high salary set for the newly appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has come under criticism from Senate Democrats and watchdog groups who questioned the use of an exemption to pay him nearly twice as much as his predecessors. Dr. Robert R. Redfield, who became the director in March, is receiving $375,000 a year, a substantially higher salary than the heads of many other government agencies. It was granted under a provision known as Title 42, which gives the department the authority to pay staff more than the approved government rate if the personnel provide a specific scientific need that cannot otherwise be filled. (Kaplan, 4/27)

"It is difficult to understand why someone with limited public health experience, particularly in a leadership role, is being disproportionately compensated for his work," Murray wrote in the letter, which was reported by The New York Times.  (Greenwood, 4/27)

Military service. Bathroom use. Job bias. And now, health care. The Trump administration is coming under fire for rewriting a federal rule that bars discrimination in health care based on "gender identity." Critics say it's another attempt to undercut acceptance for transgender people. The Health and Human Services Department rule dates to the Obama administration, a time when LGBT people gained political and social recognition. But a federal judge in Texas said the rule went too far by concluding that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is a form of sex discrimination, which is forbidden by civil rights laws. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/30)

Groups working to cut teen pregnancy rates in the United States say they would have to scrap programs they’ve been working on for years to meet new guidelines for funding from the Trump administration. The administration is shifting the focus of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) more toward abstinence education, and groups will have to get onboard if they want to continue receiving financial support from the federal government. (Hellmann, 4/28)

A West Palm Beach doctor’s ties to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago social circle have enabled him to hold up the biggest health information technology project in history — the transformation of the VA’s digital records system. Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, an internist and friend of Trump confidant Ike Perlmutter, who advises the president informally on vet issues, objected to the $16 billion Department of Veterans Affairs project because he doesn’t like the Cerner Corp. software he uses at two Florida hospitals, according to four former and current senior VA officials. Cerner technology is a cornerstone of the VA project. (Allen, 4/30)

Genetic testing services have become enormously popular with people looking for long-lost relatives or clues to hereditary diseases. Most never imagined that one day intimate pieces of their DNA could be mined to assist police detectives in criminal cases. Even as scientific experts applauded this week’s arrest of the Golden State Killer suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, some expressed unease on Friday at reports that detectives in California had used a public genealogy database to identify him. Privacy and ethical issues glossed over in the public’s rush to embrace DNA databases are now glaringly apparent, they said. (Kolata and Murphy, 4/27)

To solve a decades-old serial rape and murder case that had gone cold, investigators used DNA gathered at a crime scene and created a fake profile and pseudonym on a genealogy website several months ago, according to law enforcement officials. An investigator with the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office and an F.B.I. lawyer worked together for several months, submitting the genetic profile of a DNA sample recovered from a 1980 murder to a genealogy website, which then delivered several matches of individuals who were distant relatives of the suspect. From there, in consultation with several genealogists, they were led to the doorstep of the man whom they believed carried out a spree of rapes and murders across California in the 1970s and 1980s. (Arango, Goldman and Fuller, 4/27)

The use of DNA information in criminal investigations isn’t new, but what makes the case noteworthy, according to legal experts and bioethicists, is the use of a nonstate-owned DNA database, where individuals who share their genetic code are essentially sharing information about family members who may not have consented to reveal such data. State-owned databases contain DNA data of convicted criminals and, in some instances, people arrested. Sites like GEDmatch contain data of people who may not have had run-ins with law enforcement. (Hernandez, Kanno-Youngs and Elinson, 4/28)

Crime sprees on the scale of the Golden State Killer's are more difficult to pull off nowadays, some experts say: The same technology that helps solve such cold cases can thwart a modern-day criminal before he accumulates enough victims to earn a nickname. In recent years, serial killers who make headlines are more likely to be long retired than actively on the hunt. "It's a lot harder to be a serial killer or rapist now than it used to be — they get ID'd sooner," said former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. (Chang and Queally, 4/29)

The use of a genealogy website to track down a suspected California serial killer illustrates both the extraordinary power of DNA-sharing services and the broad privacy concerns that surround the fast-growing commercial market for genetic analysis. TV commercials for companies such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com pitch their services as simple and fun ways of learning about family heritage and health. And while those companies on Friday sought to distance themselves from the free GEDmatch website used by police, the California case exposed broader questions about what happens after consumers mail their saliva away for DNA analysis and upload the results to the internet. (4/27)

Thousands of U.S. troops are likely suffering traumatic brain injury not just from battlefield explosions but from repeated exposure to trauma while training on their own weapons, according to a new study. Service members, even those who may not have seen combat but specialize in using high explosives or weapons such as rocket launchers, could have lasting brain damage from the pounding on their necks and heads, researchers at the Center for a New American Security said in a report released Monday. The defense think tank is a nonprofit organization funded by the federal government and public- and private-sector donors. (Kesling, 4/30)

"When you fire it, the pressure wave feels like getting hit in the face," says Paul Scharre, a former Army Ranger who directs the technology and national security program at the Center. Scharre is a co-author of the center's report: Protecting Warfighters from Blast Injury. The report looks at a range of injuries caused by blast waves — pulses of high pressure air that emanate from an explosion and travel faster than the speed of sound. (Hamilton, 4/30)

Federal officials discovered one source of a growing nationwide E.coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce that has revived concerns over a leafy green industry that has long grappled with how to produce safe food. But questions still remained over the origins of most U.S. illnesses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday said it has traced the whole-head romaine lettuce that sickened eight inmates in an Alaska jail to Harrison Farms in Yuma, Ariz., but that it is still looking for the source of chopped lettuce that sickened dozens more Americans. (Newman, 4/27)

Fourteen more people fell ill from an E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, U.S. health officials said on Friday, bringing the number of people affected to 98 across 22 U.S. states. The reported strain of E. coli, which produces poisonous substances known as Shiga toxins, can cause severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. (Mishra, 4/27)

The latest numbers make this the biggest multistate outbreak involving E. coli since 2006, when contaminated baby spinach was the culprit. Three more states have now reported ill people: Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Forty-six people out of 87 on which information is available — or 53 percent — have been hospitalized. Ten of those  developed severe kidney failure, including three children. (Sun and Achenbach, 4/27)

Local restaurant chains saw little disruption from the romaine issue. A few Wendy’s in Western states had no romaine, but only for a short period of time. “A majority of restaurants were already being supplied with whole head romaine lettuce from California at that time,” said spokeswoman Heidi Schauer. (Malone, 4/28)

Some sturdy toxins might be in two production days of Armour Ground & Formed Sliced Dried Beef, so 32,479 pounds have been recalled. As explained in the USDA-posted recall notice posted Saturday night, the problem is "a possible processing deviation that may have led to staphylococcal enterotoxin and clostridial toxin contamination." (Neal, 4/29)

Bill Gates is putting his shoulder into the push to develop a universal flu vaccine. The billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder announced Friday that his charity — the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — is offering $12 million in seed money to spur innovative thinking on a scientific challenge that has stumped the influenza research community for decades and is considered the holy grail of flu research. (Branswell, 4/27)

Bill Gates was talking to President Trump in the Oval Office last month when the conversation turned to the notion of a universal flu vaccine — probably, as Gates recalled in an interview, “the longest conversation about universal flu vaccine that the president’s ever had.” “You should associate yourself with American innovation. Wouldn’t you love to have the universal flu vaccine be something that really got kicked off and energized by you?” Gates recalled asking Trump. (Branswell, 4/30)

Bill Gates is glad his fellow billionaires Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Jamie Dimon are getting into health care. He’s not so sure their new effort will help unlock solutions for the entire U.S. health care system. Their plan to form an independent health care company for employees of their companies — Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase — has been hailed as a way to “disrupt” health care. In an interview with STAT, Gates said that while the industry titans might be able to curb costs and improve the health of their own employees, the broader U.S. health care system is “super complex” and rife with misincentives. (Thielking, 4/30)

Bill Gates says the U.S. government is falling short in preparing the nation and the world for the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” In an interview this week, the billionaire philanthropist said he has raised the issue of pandemic preparedness with President Trump since the 2016 presidential election. In his most recent meeting last month, Gates said he laid out the increasing risk of a bioterrorism attack and stressed the importance of U.S. funding for advanced research on new therapeutics, including a universal flu vaccine, which would protect against all or most strains of influenza. (Sun, 4/27)

Doris Tyler lay on the examining table as the doctor stuck a long, thin tube into her belly. The doctor pulled back a plunger, and the syringe quickly filled with yellow blobs tinged with pink. “Look at that beautiful fat coming out. Liquid gold!” one of the clinic’s staff exclaimed in a video of the procedure provided to The Washington Post. Hidden in that fat were stem cells with the amazing power to heal, the Stem Cell Center of Georgia had told Tyler. The clinic is one of hundreds that have popped up across the country, many offering treatments for conditions from Parkinson’s disease to autism to multiple sclerosis. (McGinley and Wan, 4/29)

How stroke-aware are you? Perhaps you know the warning signs — sudden numbness on one side of the body, trouble speaking, sudden blurred vision, trouble walking — or know someone who has experienced a stroke. There’s never a bad time to brush up on stroke awareness, and May — National Stroke Awareness Month — is a good time to get up to speed. (Blakemore, 4/28)

Banks and credit-card companies are discussing ways to identify purchases of guns in their payment systems, a move that could be a prelude to restricting such transactions, according to people familiar with the talks. The discussions are preliminary but could be deeply controversial. Gun-rights groups have long resisted any effort to monitor which Americans own guns; there are federal laws limiting the government’s use of electronic databases of gun sales. (Andriotis, Demos and Glazer, 4/30)

A viral video from Baltimore is drawing attention to a crisis that's unfolding in emergency rooms across the country: Surging numbers of patients with psychiatric conditions aren't receiving the care they need. On a cold night in January, a man walking by a downtown Baltimore hospital saw something that shocked him. He started recording the incident on his phone. Imamu Baraka's video, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, shows security guards walking away from a bus stop next to the emergency room of University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus. (Kennedy, 4/29)

How should parents decide whether to put their baby’s blood on ice, either for their own family’s future use or as a donation for the greater good? It’s a tricky calculation, one that changes based on a family’s risk threshold, dreams for the future and, of course, money. In 2015, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists put out an opinion that, at this point, the science doesn’t support routine cord blood banking. “The routine storage of umbilical cord blood as ‘biologic insurance’ against future disease is not recommended,” the authors of that opinion write. (Sanders, 4/28)

Liz Wolfert seemed a picture of health. The Denver-based financial consultant rode her bike to work, climbed “14ers” — mountains that rise more than 14,000 feet above sea level — took kung fu lessons and swam. But in 2015, at age 32, she learned that she had elevated blood glucose levels, a possible sign of ­pre-diabetes. Wolfert’s first instinct was to work out harder and faster. But she soon learned that she needed to do the opposite: slow down and exercise at a much easier pace. (Loudin, 4/29)

Alysha Kellner was 23 weeks pregnant when she learned last year that her baby had a rare, fast-growing tumor on her heart that might require surgery while still inside the womb. It was earth-shattering news that didn’t stop there. Fetal surgery to remove this type of tumor had been done successfully just three times in the world and had never even been attempted by Kellner’s doctors at Children’s Minnesota. (Sohn, 4/29)

No one seemed to know what was wrong with Kiley Lane. For weeks, the 27-year-old had been suffering severe pain and swelling in her abdomen, telling doctors, nurses and loved ones that she felt as if she had a seat belt stretched across her stomach. Lane, from Aztec, a small town in New Mexico not far from the Four Corners, went to a nearby emergency room again and again and again. (Bever, 4/27)

As the stigma attached to mental health care fades, California students are increasingly clamoring for more on-campus services that can help them cope with anxiety, depression and the stresses of a contentious political climate and rising living expenses. Several bills pending in the California Legislature would set aside resources for mental health care at the state’s public colleges and universities. (Mello, 4/29)

At UC Davis Children's Hospital, all preemies born under a certain birth weight are now given probiotics. It's become a common practice in other countries including Australia, Japan, Sweden and Finland, Underwood says, but in the U.S., giving probiotics to preemies is controversial, with some doctors calling for more research. (Aubrey, 4/30)

Jerika Whitefield’s memories of the infection that almost killed her are muddled, except for a few. Her young children peering at her in the hospital bed. Her stepfather wrapping her limp arms around the baby. Her whispered appeal to a skeptical nurse: “Please don’t let me die. I promise, I won’t ever do it again.” Ms. Whitefield, 28, had developed endocarditis, an infection of the heart valves caused by bacteria that entered her blood when she injected methamphetamine one morning in 2016. Doctors saved her life with open-heart surgery, but before operating, they gave her a jolting warning: If she continued shooting up and got reinfected, they would not operate again. (Goodnough, 4/29)

Facing a rising death toll from drug overdoses, state lawmakers across the country are testing a strategy to boost treatment for opioid addicts: Force drug manufacturers and their distributors to pay for it. Bills introduced in at least 15 states would impose taxes or fees on prescription painkillers. Several of the measures have bipartisan support and would funnel millions of dollars toward treatment and prevention programs. In Montana, state Sen. Roger Webb, a Republican, sees the approach as a way to hold drugmakers accountable for an overdose epidemic that in 2016 claimed 42,000 lives in the U.S., a record. (Mulvihill and Potter, 4/28)

Six months after President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency, some health officials say the federal government has not provided enough new money to combat it. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture this month announced it will offer help to some communities using the resources it already has.The agency this year says it will dedicate at least $20 million of a $49 million rural telehealth and distance learning fund for projects related to opioid addiction. It also has committed to spending $5 million of a $30 million grant program that pays for buildings and equipment in rural areas for projects related to opioids. (Fifield, 4/30)

Baltimore officials will announce an initiative on Monday meant to give the city’s 11 hospitals incentive to play a bigger role in ending the opioid epidemic. The plan calls for implementing best practices for hospitals to use when they are faced with patients who overdose or have problems with opioid use. The city will publicly recognize hospitals that follow these guidelines. (McDaniels, 4/29)

A Plain Dealer review of 275 pharmacies in three Northeast Ohio counties that have signed up with the state's board of pharmacy to have the drug available found that the majority, 70 percent, had the medication in stock when we contacted them during the second week of April. Less than two-thirds (60 percent) both had the drug in stock and the person answering the call in the pharmacy knew that no prescription was required. (Zeltner, 4/29)

The Illinois House of Representatives on Friday approved a plan to replace armed police officers in schools with unarmed mental health professionals. The Democratic-led Illinois House voted 64-25 in favor of setting up a grant program that would reward schools for hiring social workers, according to the Associated Press. (Anapol, 4/29)

At Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, technicians failed to follow manufacturer instructions for pre-cleaning vaginal probes, putting patients at risk of infection, inspectors found in May 2016. And this year, Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver is under fire for failing to promptly notify patients of questionable sanitary practices after the disclosure that a doctor there last April found a bone fragment from a previous surgery stuck to a tool he was about to use. (Osher, 4/27)

[Washington Emilio] Moscoso is among the 19 doctors at Larned and the state’s other mental institution, Osawatomie State Hospital, who have special “institutional licenses” that allow them to work in those facilities or any of the state’s prisons. The license allows Moscoso to work at Larned even though he hasn't passed the three-step United States Medical Licensing Examination, or USMLE, and has no plans to try at this point. (Marso and Ryan, 4/30)

The decision, authored by Justice Debra Lehrmann, is likely to make it easier for uninsured Texans to negotiate high hospital bills under similar circumstances. In cases like Roberts’, hospitals aren’t allowed to charge uninsured patients more than a “reasonable and regular rate” — essentially, Roberts’ lawyer James Amaro said, what an insurance company would pay for the same services. (Platoff, 4/27)

[Larry] Burns, at the Crosby Clinic outside San Diego, has helped retired players gain millions of dollars in benefits through NFL worker’s compensation and disability programs, as well as secure concussion settlement payments even after their claims were denied. But other than energy and scrappy determination, Burns has few qualifications for this work. (Hohler, 4/28)

A report commissioned by the Massachusetts hospital industry projects that passage of a ballot question to regulate nurse staffing would come at an extraordinary cost — almost $1 billion a year — and worsen the quality of patient care. The dire analysis says the ballot measure would require Massachusetts hospitals to hire 5,911 nurses in a matter of weeks, costing $1.3 billion in the first year and over $900 million per year after that. (Dayal McCluskey, 4/29)

The Community-University Health Care Center in south Minneapolis was one of the first health care clinics in the country to offer free legal services to its patients. It is an idea that has been adopted by more than 400 clinics and hospitals nationwide and continues to gain interest. Serving primarily a low-income population, the clinic, known as CUHCC, has long lived the philosophy that circumstances outside the clinic walls, such as a lack of food or housing, have profound effects on the health of its patients. (Owatt, 4/27)

Brittany Oswell suddenly felt ill about three hours into her flight from Hawaii to Texas. She was dizzy, disoriented and slurring her speech. Then she briefly fainted. A flight attendant on the American Airlines flight in April 2016 tracked down a doctor on board who examined her. She may have had a panic attack, the doctor said. But it soon became clear her condition was far worse. About an hour later, Ms. Oswell, 25, collapsed in a lavatory, defecated and vomited on herself, and threw up on flight attendants who had come to check on her. The doctor returned and this time issued an urgent request to the flight crew: The pilot must land the plane immediately. (Haag, 4/27)

The state is home to four highly ranked university bioscience programs: CU Boulder, CU Denver, Colorado State University and the University of Denver. Technology that starts at the university level typically splinters off to form its own company or is licensed by larger corporations. But it’s not easy. Pop culture has created unrealistic expectations on how quickly the future can materialize, especially in the health sphere, where time is required to ensure safety. (Worthington, 4/27)

Nirva Berthold had nursed cancer patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for nine years, when she decided to go after a higher-paying position. The Haitian-American nurse said she was turned down for that job because she is black. ...The women’s claims — which the Brigham said are untrue — are at the center of two back-to-back trials scheduled to begin this week in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston. (Kowalczyk, 4/29)

Dozens of protesters gathered Saturday in Overland Park, Kansas, outside of the Planned Parenthood Great Plains; some to protest the nonprofit reproductive healthcare group, others to defend it. "Repent of supporting murder," called John Pennington through a megaphone, with his pregnant wife and two children by his side. Meanwhile, a small crowd of women chanted, "My body, my choice." The Overland Park rally was one of nearly 150 scheduled for Planned Parenthood locations across the country — organized by the Pro-Life Action League and a movement called #ProtestPP, which calls for the group's federal funding to be revoked. (Tudhope, 4/28)

A suburban physician has been indicted for pocketing nearly $1 million in fraudulent health insurance claims through his southwest suburban Palos Heights medical practice. Dr. Pranav Patel, 51, of Burr Ridge allegedly submitted false insurance claims for medical tests and exams while he owned and operated the Palos Medical Care practice, according to the Northern District of Illinois’s U.S. Attorney’s Office. (Struett, 4/28)

A new report shows more people enrolled in a health program for low-income women in 2017, but it doesn't show if the numbers are an improvement over the years before funding was cut. According to a Texas Health and Human Services Commission report published Thursday, Healthy Texas Women increased its total number of clients served from 70,336 in 2016 to 122,406 in 2017. The Family Planning Program increased its clients from 38,404 in 2016 to 96,990 in 2017. Overall, Texas served 29 percent more women in one year. (Wang, 4/28)

Making tobacco a little harder for young adults to buy could go a long way to improving Greater Cincinnati’s overall health, the advocates say. Setting the purchase age at 21, they say, can save lives by bringing down the infant mortality rate, reducing the risk of cancer and improving heart health. (Saker, 4/30)

The Board of Long-Term Care Administrators suspended Mable Jones’ license this week, citing allegations ranging from improper care of residents to failing to appropriately address a bedbug infestation that one pest exterminator called “deplorable.” A spokesman for the Social Security Administration said the agency is aware of the allegations and is looking into the matter. (O'Connor, 4/27)

California’s air pollution levels are among the worst in the country, and climate change is making the situation worse, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. Despite the state’s efforts to reign in air pollution, 90 percent of California residents are exposed to unhealthy air at some point during the year, according to the State of the Air 2018 report. (Boyd-Barrett, 4/29)

Mistake after mistake led to a 16-year-old inmate suffering severe brain damage when guards neglected her request for help and she hanged herself in her cell. The 2015 episode is costing Wisconsin nearly $19 million, but employee promotions — not discipline — followed it. (Marley, 4/27)

Operating income grew by more than 20 percent last year at Allina Health System as the Minneapolis-based network of hospitals and clinics hired more than 1,200 nurses during the year, thereby avoiding extra costs with temporary workers. The extensive hiring of nurses helped moderate the growth in labor costs, said Ric Magnuson, the chief financial officer at Allina, as the health system improved revenue by extending some clinic hours and boosting operating room efficiency to give more patients access to care. (Snowbeck, 4/27)

Louisiana's nine future medical marijuana dispensaries have been selected. The two grow sites, managed by LSU and Southern University, are preparing to start growing and processing the drug by next February at the latest. ...Despite the interest in Louisiana's budding new industry, the number of doctors that actually have been licensed to recommend medical marijuana lingers at 10, according to the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners which approves the therapeutic marijuana license. Only 15 have applied. (Clark, 4/27)

A Georgia nursing home resident who died from a scabies infestation is believed to have been eaten alive over the course of months or years. According to a pending lawsuit filed by the family, 93-year-old Rebecca Zeni died in 2015 from scabies at the facility. (Pierrotti, 4/28)

Silicosis strikes many workers in the construction, sandblasting and mining industries, according to the CDC. It’s caused by exposure to silica or silica dust – essentially sand. An estimated 2.3 million U.S. workers are estimated to be exposed to respirable crystalline silica through their jobs. (Miller and Hensley, 4/27)

Last week, the union representing Caltrans maintenance workers filed a grievance against the department, contending that employees responsible for the massive cleanups are not being adequately protected. In many instances, workers are not given appropriate protective gear, vaccinations, training or enough compensation for the “dangerous hazmat duties they are performing” on Caltrans property, according to the grievance filed by the International Union of Operating Engineers, Unit 12. (Lundstrom, 4/30)

The embattled Texas Health and Human Services Commission, facing new controversy and investigations over its latest purchasing irregularities, has slowed down its procurement and contracting processes, officials said Friday. While few details about the move were available, officials in three departments that rely on HHSC for purchasing and contracts review said they had been told that most procurement had been put on hold. (Ward, 4/27)

Documents released by Ohio State University on Friday allege numerous violations at six of its fraternities, including one case of a student reporting he or she was drugged at a fraternity party, and alcohol violations that ultimately led to some students needing medical assistance or hospitalization. The documents, obtained by The Dispatch through a public records request, detail the investigations into student code of conduct violations involving Tau Kappa Epsilon, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Chi, Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. (Smola, 4/27)

No doubt about it: Health care is a vexing political problem. There’s a contradiction at the core of our thinking. We want the best care when we or our loved ones get sick. It’s a moral issue. There should be no limits on treatment. But the resulting uncontrolled health spending harms the country. It undermines other priorities — higher wages (more labor income gets channeled into health-insurance premiums) and competent government (defense and other programs may be underfunded). (Robert J. Samuelson, 4/29)

It is essential to empower Kentuckians to be self-sufficient and accountable, but I disagree with Gov. Matt Bevin’s vision for achieving this goal. Bevin is dismantling one of the most successful health-care programs Kentucky has ever seen. Unlike Bevin’s Medicaid waiver, Kentucky’s original implementation of the Affordable Care Act saves money, jobs and lives. First, the number of uninsured Kentuckians dropped by 63 percent between 2013 and 2015, making it the third most successful case of Medicaid expansion, behind Arkansas and Nevada. Second, the uninsured portion of the Appalachian community is medically underserved and accounts for approximately 100,000 (a fifth of the total) recipients of Medicaid under the expansion. While low-income Kentuckians in central and northern parts of the state may be able to get through this period, our Appalachian brethren cannot. (Rena Mae Childers, 4/27)

We are hopeful that in the debate in Lansing over mandating work requirements for Medicaid recipients, facts will win out. Legislation recently introduced seems to be driven in large part by misinformation about who is eligible and is using this vital program that helps boost the health and lifespan of many Michiganians.According to available data, the vast majority of people on Medicaid today are children under 18, people with a disability or senior citizens with minimal or no income from retirement savings. (RoAnne Chaney and Farah Erzouki, 4/29)

Ever since the American Hospital Association created its first Patient Bill of Rights in the early 1970s, medical centers, professional associations and states have been adapting it or creating their own. They are featured on websites and included in admissions packets, and adorn hospital walls. ...Today patients’ worries are financial as much as medical. Twenty percent of people with insurance say they have trouble paying their medical bills, a figure that rises to above 50 percent for the uninsured. In an era when patients are told to be better consumers of health care, they need a Financial Bill of Rights, too. Here are some suggestions for what it should include. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 4/27)

Might we ever see a bipartisan health care bill that addresses costs and receives unanimous legislative support? Although one emanating from Washington seems unlikely anytime soon, an innovative bipartisan health care bill — referred to as Right to Shop — unanimously passed the Maine Legislature in 2017 and merits a closer look. (Jeffrey Flier and Josh Archambault, 4/30)

Last October President Trump issued an executive order intended to increase choices for consumers who purchase their health insurance in the individual market and for whom the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) locked them into expensive, government dictated, one size fits all plans.In response to the presidential directive entitled “Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States,” the Secretaries of the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services in February issued a proposed rule that would restore the maximum permitted period of short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI) to its historical length of 12 months. The 60-day public comment period closed on April 23. The Agencies should now finalize this rule. (Roger Klein, 4/27)

Since President Trump announced in March that the Pentagon would prohibit many transgender people from serving in the military, thousands of Americans have been in limbo, not knowing whether their careers were over or whether they would be barred from even joining the armed forces. Federal courts have put a temporary hold on this directive, which bans “transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition” unless the Pentagon grants them an exception. In the meantime, a growing body of research and expert opinion supports the only fair and just solution: Repudiating Mr. Trump’s cruel decision and giving transgender people the same right to serve their country in a military uniform as any other citizens. (4/29)

The worst U.S. flu season in nearly a decade appears to be winding down, but the truth is, it’s always flu season. Even now, as Americans begin to put away the thermometers, hand sanitizers and cough drops, researchers are preparing for the next flu season. As early as February, they began trying to predict which influenza strains will dominate so they can create the right cocktail for next season’s vaccine. (Bruce Gellin, 4/27)

Here in the United States, there were almost 18,000 cases of whooping cough reported in 2016, a disease easily prevented with a vaccine. To make sure everyone benefits from vaccines, there are challenges to overcome. (Sue Desmond-Hellman, 4/27)

Proponents of science-based medicine are fond of saying that there’s a name for alternative treatments that pass scientific tests:  medicine. But what they don’t mention are those parts of long-established medicine that get demoted to “alternative” status — or should be. (Faye Flam, 4/27)

Individuals with genetic diseases often face an excruciatingly long diagnostic odyssey. Between the time they first experience symptoms and the time they get a definitive diagnosis, some see the disease progress, others suffer irreversible damage, and many may experience significantly decreased quality of life. By identifying some of these diseases very early in life, newborn screening programs save and improve the lives of thousands of infants in the U.S. every year. (Robert Moy, Seamus Levine-Wilkinson and Joseph Sterk, 4/30)

Guns won’t be allowed when Vice President Mike Pence speaks Friday at a National Rifle Association convention in Dallas in order to protect his safety. The NRA says the Secret Service ordered the ban, but survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting are calling the move hypocritical, noting the organization’s fierce opposition to gun-free zones in most public places. (Don Sweeney, 4/29)

Thanks to peer-reviewed scientific research, we now know that a little heart starts beating just 16 days after conception. The first brain waves are detected at 50 days. Every organ and fingerprint are present at 9 weeks. At 20 weeks, the unborn child has a fully developed nervous system that can feel the excruciating pain of abortionists' cutting tools.... Scientific consensus is clear. It is not up for religious or philosophical debate. Human life begins at conception.  (Joel Berry, 4/29)

One of the fundamental skills we learn early in medicine is how to take a patient history. We are encouraged to tell a story. Yet these stories have a specific formula. They go something like this: “Mr. A is a 60-year-old man with high blood pressure and diabetes who presents with new left lower extremity weakness.” We describe when the weakness started, what makes it better and what makes it worse, and any other accompanying symptoms. Most often, we elicit a story of disease but not one of the patient who is experiencing an illness. The best stories are cut short. Mr. A’s story may not communicate that he has been homeless for months because he lost his job. Or that his daughter is getting married in a few months and that he is most concerned that he will not be able to walk her down the aisle. Both of these stories — about the illness and about the patient — are important in different ways. (Ersilia M. DeFilippis, 4/28)

”Sometimes less really is more. I’ve learned this can be true when deciding on the best course of health-care treatment. Sometimes “no” is the better option. After spending 11 hours in the ER going from scan to scan, my 79-year-old father asked me to help him get the facts about his prognosis. We knew he had glioblastoma — the same brain cancer Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been diagnosed with — and we knew generally how bad this cancer is. We also knew that his doctors were urging us to go after the cancer with everything they had. “Don’t you want to do everything to save your dad?” one doctor asked me. Yes, I loved my father. But he, my mother and I also knew that glioblastoma is invariably fatal. Doing everything was not the only choice. (Randi Redmond Oster, 4/27)

Most people are aware of the types of drugs that are federally classified as substances with no medicinal benefit and high abuse potential: heroin, LSD and marijuana are examples of these drugs and they are indeed classified as illegal. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are the two government agencies responsible for classifying drugs.The FDA recently received a Citizen Petition for Stricter Regulation of Added Sugar "to amend the Drug Schedules to include added sugar to either Schedule I or Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act." This idea is not new to many members of the medical community who believe that sugar is a poison. (Lynn Webster, 4/29)

Steve Poizner was California’s insurance commissioner from 2007 to 2011, and he was a very good one. In a critical statewide job that balances consumer protection against the solvency of insurers, he stood up to big health and auto insurance companies that tried to gouge policyholders while making sure the industry stayed in the state and made enough profit to pay its claims. (4/29)