State Highlights: Boston University Launches Five-Year Cancer Research Partnership With J&J; 911 Calls From Las Vegas Shooting Released
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, California, Ohio, Kansas, New Hampshire, Louisiana and Florida.
Despite the remarkable progress that medicine has made treating some varieties of cancer, one common form remains nearly as deadly as it was four decades ago: lung cancer. ... The disease is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States, killing about 154,000 people each year, more than those who die from breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer combined. On Wednesday, Boston University and the health care giant Johnson & Johnson announced a five-year collaboration that they hope will change that. (Saltzman, 6/6)
Boston University is pairing with Johnson & Johnson to help fight lung cancer. School officials announced Wednesday the company will pay for a new lung center at the university where researchers will work to prevent and cure the disease. It's part of a five-year research partnership between the school and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, a development arm of the New Jersey-based health care products company. (6/6)
The voices are sobbing at times. Panicked. Fearful. A 911 dispatcher tries to calm one caller down. 鈥淗ello? Are you at the Route 91?鈥 the dispatcher asks. 鈥淚鈥檓 going for my boyfriend who is at Route 91,鈥 the woman says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 hiding inside of a cooler.鈥 鈥淥K, you tell him to stay hunkered down. We don鈥檛 have this thing contained yet and we need to get everyone 鈥 just tell him to stay put, OK?鈥 the dispatcher responds. (Montero, 6/6)
New Jersey lawmakers are set to vote on a half-dozen measures to tighten the state's already-strict gun laws. The Democratic-led Assembly and Senate have scheduled votes for Thursday on bills that began advancing after the fatal high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February that left 17 people dead. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has said he supports the measures, as part of a promise for more "sensible" gun-control. (6/7)
A former vice dean of University of Southern California鈥檚 medical school testified he feared the then-dean, Dr. Carmen Puliafito, 鈥渃ould be doing drugs鈥 before Puliafito abruptly quit in 2016. Dr. Henri Ford鈥檚 testimony at a state Medical Board hearing marks the first suggestion that any USC administrator had suspicions about Puliafito鈥檚 possible drug use, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. Ford said he expressed concerns about Puliafito鈥檚 general well-being to the university鈥檚 provost. (6/6)
A nurse at the Brockton hospital last winter administered the drug, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, to the patient, who suffered a life-threatening reaction and had to be transferred to the intensive care unit, according to a federal and state inspection report obtained by the Globe. ...The phenomenon is a growing concern at hospitals nationwide as technology revolutionizes how patients鈥 medical information is collected and circulated among providers. (Kowalczyk, 6/6)
If the city complies with a recent court order, it will have to ensure that as many as 400 Cleveland homes with lead hazards are placarded with warning signs by June 23, according to state records obtained by The Plain Dealer. The exact number of homes requiring an order to vacate is unclear, but state records show that as of May 23, the date of the court's order, city and state lead investigators had issued orders to remediate lead hazards to the owners of at least 503 Cleveland homes. (Dissell and Zeltner, 6/6)
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Wednesday that the threat caused by an outbreak that began in a Johnson County daycare in March has passed after 22 people in three counties were infected. ...It was the most cases of measles Kansas has had in a year since 1990. (Marso, 6/6)
The New Hampshire Department of Administrative Services (DAS) is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the state鈥檚 retiree health care plan, seeking to switch users into a Medicare program that officials say could help the state save $11.8 million through 2020. The proposal, presented to the Executive Council on Wednesday, would move the state鈥檚 9,600 Medicare-eligible public retirees off their present plan 鈥 a state-funded program called 鈥淢edicomp鈥 鈥 and onto a federal initiative known as Medicare Advantage. (DeWitt, 6/7)
A deaf Slidell resident has filed a lawsuit in federal court against a Hammond-based nursing home who she said did not provide her adequate access to an American Sign Language interpreter during her stay. Under the Affordable Care Act, nursing homes, hospitals, health plans, clinics, physicians and other providers have to offer "qualified interpreters" to limited English proficient patients. Although interpreters are not required to be certified, they have to have some training to be considered qualified and need to be fluent in either language.聽(Clark, 6/6)
A California-based company has bought a Florida medical marijuana operation for $53 million in the latest transaction in what investors hope will be among the nation鈥檚 most-lucrative medical pot markets. Under the agreement, the company MedMen will acquire Treadwell Nursery鈥檚 five-acre cultivation facility, located in Eustis, and the right to operate 25 dispensaries throughout the state, the maximum currently allowed under Florida law. (Hokrein, 6/6)