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New York City jail health workers say their medical ethics are often compromised by the demands of treating patients who are also prisoners, such as when they witness guards' use of force or are asked to approve stints in solitary confinement, according to a first-of-its-kind city study. The two-year study at New York's sprawling Rikers Island jail complex concluded with a bold recommendation to remove health workers entirely from the most contentious issue they face -- whether to put an inmate in solitary. That's because many doctors believe the confinement, which involves 23-hour stretches of isolation, could harm inmates. (4/3)

The Justice Department put the nation’s prisons and jails on notice on Friday that it regarded blanket policies prohibiting new hormone treatment for transgender inmates to be unconstitutional. In court documents, the Justice Department backed a lawsuit brought by a prison inmate who says the state of Georgia illegally cut off the hormone treatment that she had been taking for 17 years. (Apuzzo, 4/3)

A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday ruled that California must provide sex reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate, calling denial of the procedure a violation of constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar wrote in his 38-page order that the state was violating the constitutional rights of Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, who was convicted of second-degree murder in April 1987, by not providing the operation. (Skinner, 4/3)

Florida veterans were forced to wait at least 30 days for nearly 77,000 medical appointments at VA medical facilities from September through January, and half of those delays were found at just seven sites in north Florida and the Panhandle, according to government data reviewed by The Associated Press. The data shows the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is far from reaching its goal of reducing long waits for care at some hospitals and clinics in its massive health system. (Kennedy, 4/6)

A major nursing home chain is defending the care provided at its facilities after New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas vowed to pursue claims against the company. The attorney general's office filed an amended complaint this week against Preferred Care Partners Management Group, a Texas-based company that operates in at least 10 states. (Bryan, 4/3)

The Longstreet Clinic is one of a growing number of primary care providers in Georgia teaming up with insurers, specialists, hospitals and others to improve patients’ health by better overseeing their overall care and, the theory goes, rein in out-of-control health care costs in the process. (Anderson, 4/6)

Trustees of Emory University and WellStar Health System have approved a resolution to start the “design phase” of a new entity, the two organizations announced Thursday evening. The combination of Emory Healthcare and WellStar would be easily the state’s biggest health system. But a merger won’t come quickly, officials said. And the deal still has not been clinched, they emphasize. (Miller, 4/3)

Minnesota House Republicans recently unveiled a budget plan featuring a $2 billion tax cut and more education and transportation spending. To balance it, they proposed slashing health and human services. (Scheck, 4/6)

For years, Missouri has been the only state in the country that doesn’t monitor prescription drugs. But that may be about to change. The Missouri Senate on Thursday, by a 24-10 vote, approved a bill that would create a drug monitoring program that addresses some of the privacy concerns raised by opponents. The vote marked the first time the Senate has approved such a program. (Smith, 4/3)

The Rev. Vernon Holmes ... leads a Lutheran congregation near Sacramento; the average age of members is 79. His faith promotes quality of life, Holmes says. And that same faith leads him to challenge the status quo and injustice. His congregation belongs to an advocacy group called California Church Impact, which supports California's bill that would allow the terminally ill to end their own lives with medical assistance. (Bartolone, 4/3)

District officials estimate that Sacramento City Unified needs another $634 million – nearly 1.5 times its annual budget – to fully pay for the health benefits promised to its workers and retirees, based on the latest actuarial data. That number represents the gap between projected health care costs and what its investments are expected to cover. (Kalb, 4/4)

Democratic-led efforts to ban vaccine exemptions in Oregon and Washington state toppled one after the other last month amid fervent opposition from parents and anti-vaccine groups who say the bills would have trampled their fundamental rights to decide how to care for their own children. Now it's California's turn to try. (Seipel, 4/5)