Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
DC Legislation Seeks To Force 911 Agency To Reveal Dispatching Errors
D.C.’s troubled 911 agency would be required to release audio and other documents related to calls with suspected dispatching errors under legislation announced Monday by D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2). (Gathright, 9/9)
The former head of food services for New York City public schools was sentenced to two years in prison on Monday for a bribery scandal that resulted in children being served chicken tenders contaminated with metal and bone. Eric Goldstein, the former school food chief, was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court along with three men who ran a vendor that had contracted with the city to provide school food — Blaine Iler, Michael Turley and Brian Twomey. Iler was sentenced to one year and a $10,000 fine, Turley to 15 months and Twomey to 15 months and a $10,000 fine. (Matthews, 9/9)
A few years ago, Dr. Steven Rogers, a physician in the emergency department at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, started a new initiative. He wanted to screen every child age 10 and up who passed through the department for suicide risk. That’s around 15,000 kids a year. (Tillman, 9/10)
Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is one of the nation’s most remote regions, stretching across 75,000 square miles of mountains, tundra and coastal wetlands along the Bering Sea. The U.S. Census counts the population at roughly 27,000 – the majority of whom are Alaska Natives of Yup’ik and Athabascan descent – placing the region among the most sparsely populated areas in the United States. There are no roads connecting the Delta’s 50 villages to the national system. It’s also home to the nation’s highest rates of suicide. (Kapelow, 9/10)
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On the opioid crisis in Maryland and Maine —
The City of Baltimore has reached an $80 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals over the company's role in the city's opioid crisis, officials announced Monday. Teva will pay an initial $35 million by the end of the year, with the remainder due by July 1, 2025. (Olaniran, 9/9)
A sheriff fought to give prisoners addicted to opioids a shot that suppresses cravings for a month. Upon release, they were more likely to continue treatment. (Hoffman, 9/9)
