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Oklahoma State University officials on Wednesday announced a six-year, $3.8 million grant from the state's Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust to help fund a medical residency program in mostly rural parts of the state. OSU President Burns Hargis said the money from the trust fund will be matched with $5.6 million in federal funding through the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. (Murphy, 8/26)

A proposal by Representative Hazel Rogers of Lauderdale Lakes would require hospitals to track injuries and form committees. The Florida Nurses Association has no formal position on the bill. But Jeanie Demshar, a director, says FNA members are complaining about the problem. (Ash, 8/26)

Last year, the medical director of a Miami-Dade chain of mental health clinics and three therapists scored the equivalent of a legal tie when a federal jury deadlocked on charges accusing them of scheming to bilk Medicare out of millions of dollars. This week, they weren’t as fortunate: A new jury convicted Dr. Roger Rousseau, 73, of Miami, and the three state-licensed therapists, Doris Crabtree, 62, of Miami, Angela Salafia, 68, of Miami Beach, and Liliana Marks, 48, of Homestead, of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud. Rousseau, a psychiatrist, was also convicted of two related fraud offenses. (Weaver, 8/26)

Not even going to prison spares patients from medical co-payments. In response to the rapidly rising cost of providing health care, states are increasingly authorizing the collection of fees from prisoners for medical services they receive while in state prisons or local jails. At least 38 states now do it, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and Stateline reporting. (Ollove, 8/26)

Every year when they do their taxes, Californians donate millions for charitable causes, but nearly $10 million of that money sat unspent in government accounts at the end of last year and some of the funding never reaches its intended target, according to a review by The Associated Press. ... Records show that $278,000 raised for asthma and lung disease research reverted to the state treasury because neither the Legislature nor the distributing agency put them to use. ...But in a dozen of the funds, state agencies tapped less than half the contributions available. Health agencies never used funding for a colorectal cancer prevention program, promoted by Erin Stennis, a Culver City woman who lost her husband to colon cancer in 2003. ... Not a single dime has been spent on cancer prevention. (Nirappil, 8/27)

Hundreds of women in Florida will be able to get early screenings for breast cancer under a national program aimed at the uninsured. Three Florida facilities will receive the grants from the National Breast Cancer Foundation and Hungry Howie’s. Its “Love, Hope and Pizza” program awarded grants to more than 70 facilities around the country. In Tampa, a $25,00 grant helps Moffitt Cancer Center offer 200 low-income, uninsured women free mammograms and diagnostic breast care services. (Miller, 8/26)

An administrative law judge is considering a challenge to the Florida Department of Health involving the eligibility of children for a state program that provides specialized medical care. Attorneys for children and the Department of Health filed proposed final orders Monday with Judge Darren Schwartz in the case, which focuses on a program known as the Children's Medical Services Network. (Menzel, 8/26)

Senate Health Policy Chairman Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, is looking to pitch Florida as a place for people to come for medical care. Bean on Tuesday filed a proposal (SB 178) that includes creating a program to market Florida as a "health care destination" -- a concept known as medical tourism. The bill, which will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, would create the program under Enterprise Florida, a public-private agency that seeks to boost economic development. (8/26)

As Illinois moves closer to opening its first medical marijuana dispensaries, Lake County school districts are preparing for the possibility some of their students will be among the first patients allowed to use cannabis under state law. "We're going into some new territory, and we're going to have to work through this," said Ellen Correll, superintendent of Community Consolidated School District 46 in Grayslake. "We want to support anyone who needs it for a medical reason, but we have to be very careful with this in a school setting." (Zumbach, 8/26)

A federal judge in Chicago scolded Illinois officials Wednesday for not fully complying with her order to pay social service providers in answer to a consent decree. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman broached the subject of holding the state in contempt of court. She ultimately ordered the Illinois state comptroller's office to determine within 48 hours which providers of service to developmentally disabled residents must be funded despite an ongoing budget impasse. (8/27)