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The number of baby deaths in Hamilton County hit a historic low in 2016, even though the county still ranks among the worst in the nation in infant mortality, according to a new report by a group working to stem the problem. (Saker, 4/11)

Cathy Kennedy of the California Nurses Association says the group will continue to argue for single-payer health care, regardless of who is governor. (Hart, 4/10)

A looming end to a state cost-control experiment would force counties to shoulder a much bigger share of IHSS expenses — $623 million to start and almost $2 billion over six years. It’s an enormous bill for a federally mandated entitlement that’s expected to get more expensive and popular. (Horseman, 4/10)

Nearly half of mentally ill individuals who said they had contact with Phoenix police said the officers actually made the situation worse, according to a city survey. The survey, conducted by the Phoenix Mayor’s Commission on Disability Issues, questioned 244 individuals with mental-health issues found in Phoenix mental health clinics, residential programs and those who were homeless. (Cassidy, 4/10)

Under pressure from Oregon's congressional leaders, the Portland VA said Monday that it has temporarily stopped removing people from a program that pays spouses of disabled veterans to be caregivers. Daniel Herrigstad, a Portland VA spokesman, said the suspension affected one veteran whose eligibility was being actively reviewed. The halt will remain in place "until we receive further guidance" from the caregiver program's national director and regional officials, he said. (Davis, 4/10)

Kimberly-Clark and its spinoff medical technology firm Halyard Health have been hit with $454 million in compensatory and punitive damages, after a federal jury found the companies misled California buyers about the impermeability of their MicroCool surgical gowns. Jurors in Los Angeles returned the verdict Friday in a class-action lawsuit brought by more than 400 hospitals and health centers in California. (4/10)

Experts say the causes of epilepsy are generally unknown, though some cases may be genetic, while others can be brought on by head trauma, stroke or central nervous system infection... But the so-called responsive neurostimulation system, or RNS for short, developed by Mountain View-based NeuroPace, treats adults with epilepsy who don’t respond to medication or for whom surgery is too risky. (Seipel, 4/10)

When skin cancer has spread to other organs, even the most promising class of drugs fails in half of all patients. But in a new University of Pennsylvania study, authors report they can pinpoint why the drugs fail with a simple blood test, and they can do it just six weeks after starting the therapy – allowing for rapid deployment of a second kind of treatment. (Avril, 4/10)

Oregon officials think they've found high levels of a cancer-causing chemical in the air near a Lebanon battery parts maker, but a judge won't let them say a word about it. Linn County Circuit Court Judge Thomas A. McHill on Friday agreed to Entek International's request for what appears to be an unprecedented gag order against state environmental and health regulators. Entek would be "irreparably harmed" if the regulators told the public about the preliminary finding, McHill wrote. (Davis, 4/10)