DCF Mismanaged Health Care Of Kids, Massachusetts' State Audit Finds
Thirty-five percent of cases reviewed show signs of lack of care for kids with serious mental health conditions, including missed therapy sessions, missing information on file, and, in some cases, improperly prescribed antipsychotics. Almost a quarter of all kids in protective custody had a prescription for at least one psychotropic medication.
The Boston Globe:Medications, Treatments, For Kids In DCF Care Was Poorly Managed Massachusetts' child protection agency failed to properly manage the care of children in its custody with serious mental health conditions, the state auditor found, a systemic oversight that included missed or delayed therapy sessions for 35 percent of children whose cases were reviewed, and several others who received antipsychotic medications without proper authorization. Virtually all the Department of Children and Families cases examined in the audit released Thursday had information missing from their files, making it more difficult for doctors and nurses to safely and effectively treat those children. (Laughlin, 11/7)
Military.com:VA Doctor Found Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting Patient At Georgia Facility A jury found a primary care doctor at the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia, guilty of sexually assaulting a patient during a routine medical exam, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Dr. Rajesh Motibhai Patel, 69, of Lilburn, Georgia, had been charged with sexually assaulting four female patients during appointments that took place between 2019 and 2020. (Kime, 11/7)
AP:The Colorado Funeral Home Owners Accused Of Letting 190 Bodies Decompose Are Set To Plead Guilty The husband and wife owners of a funeral home accused of piling 190 bodies inside a room-temperature building in Colorado while giving grieving families fake ashes were expected to plead guilty Friday, charged with hundreds of counts of corpse abuse. The discovery last year shattered families' grieving processes. The milestones of mourning — the "goodbye" as the ashes were picked up by the wind, the relief that they had fulfilled their loved ones' wishes, the moments cradling the urn and musing on memories — now felt hollow. (Bedayn, 11/8)
The Hill:New Federal Partnership Announced To Target Food Insecurity Among College Students The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Education announced an agreement aimed at addressing food insecurity among college students in a press release issued Thursday. The partnership between the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service and the Education Department's office of Federal Student Aid attempts to increase awareness among college students of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides assistance to low-income individuals and families to purchase food. (Ventura, 11/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:Daniel Lurie Elected San Francisco's Next Mayor, In Rebuke To Breed Daniel Lurie has been elected mayor of San Francisco, denying London Breed another term after arguing that her flawed leadership caused the city to struggle since the pandemic devastated its downtown and exacerbated the drug crisis, homelessness and public concerns about crime. (Morris, 11/7)
The Mercury News:A Day In The Life Of San Francisco's Poison Control Center At the California Poison Control System in San Francisco, a call has just come in from a mother whose toddler accidentally drank a stain remover called "Grandma's Secret." ... It's all in a day's work for the poison center's operators, the specially trained physicians, pharmacists and nurses at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Somebody comes into contact with something they shouldn't, and a cry for help comes into the center's 24/7 hotline (1-800-222-1222). (Metcalfe, 11/7)
KFF Health News:California Expanded Medi-Cal To Unauthorized Residents. The Results Are Mixed California this year took the final step in opening Medi-Cal, its Medicaid program, to every eligible resident regardless of immigration status. It's a significant expansion for an already massive safety net program. Medi-Cal's annual spending now stands at $157 billion, serving about 15 million low-income residents, more than a third of Californians. Of those, about 1.5 million are immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization, costing an estimated $6.4 billion, according to the Department of Health Care Services. (Sánchez, 11/8)
On drug use and overdoses —
CBS News:Residents Ask Denver Health To Relocate Program That Pays Drug Users Cash To Take HIV Tests, Surveys Homelessness, street crime and vandalism are nothing new along the Broadway corridor south of downtown Denver. But Chris Specht, who owns a condominium at the Broadway Flats building at 2nd and Broadway, contends Denver Health is aggravating the problems by operating a community site in Specht's building that pays people who inject drugs to come into the building for HIV testing and to take a survey about their lifestyles. (Maass, 11/7)
The Seattle Times:Influx Of Mobile Methadone Clinics Brings Treatment To The Streets There's a small line forming outside a plain white box truck in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood. A half-dozen folks are waiting on a gusty October morning for their turn to go inside and receive red liquid in a cup, medication that will help them get through the next 24 hours without opioids. Or if they do use, to keep them alive. It's life-changing for some, this treatment program on wheels, and it has faced obstacles in the past, but fentanyl's grip on Washington has given methadone distribution more urgency. (Patrick, 11/7)
CBS News:UC Davis Study Finds Narcan Improves Survival Rates Of Overdose Patients In Cardiac Arrest A study into Narcan could shape how first responders treat overdose patients. First responders across America, and in Northern California, continue to deal with a deluge of opioid overdose cases. How to treat some of them is still evolving. "Opiate overdose usually leads to a problem with your breathing, so you don't breathe as well," Dr. David Dillon with UC Davis Health said. "And if you can catch it where your heart is still beating but you're not breathing, Narcan is the antidote." (11/7)
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations..
