Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: CDC To Investigate Deadly Bacterial Infection In Boston; Minn. Health Officials Link Low Income, Diabetes
Disease-trackers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Boston Wednesday to study the spread of a deadly bacterial infection among homeless people. Dr. Anita Barry, director of the Infectious Disease Bureau at the Boston Public Health Commission, said the CDC is interested in the city鈥檚 experience because the federal agency is updating guidelines for handling clusters of meningococcal disease, the infection that killed two homeless people in Boston and sickened three others. (Freyer, 3/16)
Seventeen people with infections caused by Elizabethkingia bacteria have died since the outbreak began in Wisconsin in November, an increase of two from last week, the state Department of Health Services reported Wednesday. The number of cases, which are spread across 12 counties, also increased, from 48 to 54. (Stephenson and Rutledge, 3/16)
Low-income adults in Minnesota are much more likely to develop diabetes than people with higher incomes, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. New research shows that 13 percent of working-age Minnesotans who earn less than $35,000 annually have diabetes. That compares to a diabetes rate of just 5 percent for earners who make more than $35,000. (Benson, 3/16)
A hospital in North Dakota's capital on Wednesday rescinded its decision to close its pediatric inpatient unit, two days after the closure was announced. CHI St. Alexius Health in Bismarck said in a statement that the unit will remain open, but the health system will still go ahead with its plans to lay off 23 employees, reassign others and close the inpatient rehabilitation unit for adults. (3/16)
Monument must pay a methadone provider $350,000 under a settlement that would keep the company from opening a facility there, the town's manager said Wednesday. The figure offered the first glimpse at how much taxpayers must pay to settle with Colonial Management Group - which sued Monument last year after town officials denied the company a business license and issued a moratorium on clinics opening in or around downtown. (Rodgers, 3/16)
