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Levels of harmful flame-retardant chemicals in women’s breast milk have dropped by nearly 40 percent since California’s decade-old ban on these chemicals took effect, according to a new study by state environmental scientists. (Feder Ostrov, 2/25)

A new report by a handful of health agencies and organizations found an increasing demand for mental health services in Anne Arundel County, and a shortage of mental health services to meet that need. Issued once every three years by the Healthy Anne Arundel Coalition, the Community Health Needs Assessment released Wednesday found residential mental health beds to be almost nonexistent in Anne Arundel, though there are 259 residential rehabilitation beds in the county for people with chronic and persistent mental illness. (Loricchio, 2/24)

Many first-time parents of newborns wonder how they will cope when they leave the comfort zone of the hospital, where expert nurses are on hand to answer questions and help solve problems. A program in Central Indiana aims to help the most vulnerable of mothers - and their babies - by providing regular nurse visits during pregnancy and the first two years of a child's life. (Rudavsky, 2/25)

New Hampshire residents hoping to get access to medical marijuana are still waiting for the state’s dispensaries to open. Right now, those new facilities still have to go through a few more rounds of inspections before they can open their doors and start serving patients. Once they do open, patients will only be able to visit one dispensary at a time. And for residents in the northernmost region of the state, the nearest dispensary could be at least two hours away. (McDermott, 2/25)

The state Revenue Department's massive 2012 data breach gave Gov. Nikki Haley a firsthand lesson on the need for efforts to counter cybercrime, she said Wednesday. "Today, there is never a day I don't think about cybersecurity," Haley told academics and business, government and military officials who gathered to kick off a new, statewide program in cooperation with the University of South Carolina. (Schafer, 2/24)

A new Massachusetts law criminalizing the trafficking of fentanyl is taking effect. The law creates the crime of trafficking in fentanyl for amounts greater than 10 grams with punishment of up to 20 years in state prison. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin. (2/23)

Advocates in Jefferson City are lobbying for expanded access to Missouri Medicaid for young adults suffering with mental illness. Members of the National Alliance on Mental Illness are working to establish a waiver that would allow people age 21 to 25 to obtain health care through Medicaid at the first signs of serious mental illness. Cindi Keele, executive director of NAMI Missouri, said the project was inspired by recent studies showing how effective treatment can be if it begins soon after a patient’s first psychotic episode. (Graef, 2/24)