State Highlights: Second USC Med School Dean Out After Old Harassment Claim Emerges; Bureaucracy Undermines Ill. Screening Law

Media outlets report on news from California, Illinois, Washington and Kansas.

Los Angeles Times: USC Medical School Dean Out Amid Revelations Of Sexual Harassment Claim, $135,000 Settlement With Researcher

After the dean of USC’s medical school resigned last year amid long-running complaints about his drinking and boorish treatment of colleagues, university leaders assured students and faculty that his successor would be worthy of respect. The man USC chose, however, had a black mark on his own personnel record: A finding by the university 15 years ago that he had behaved inappropriately toward a female medical school fellow. (Parvini, Ryan and Pringle, 10/5)

Chicago Tribune: How Illinois Bureaucracy Robbed Parents Of A Chance To Save Their Children From A Deadly Disease

The state's newborn screening program was supposed to be immune from the budget pressures weighing on state officials as the Great Recession took hold. Screening newborns in Illinois is funded by a testing fee charged to hospitals for each baby born. The legislature directed Public Health to raise that fee to cover the new testing for Krabbe disease and other lysosomal disorders. But the state took so long to change the rules to allow a $19 increase for each baby — an extra $3 million a year — that the money didn't start accumulating until January 2010. (Callahan, 10/4)

Chicago Tribune: Edward-Elmhurst Health Cutting $50 Million, Eliminating 234 Positions

West suburban hospital system Edward-Elmhurst Health has laid off 84 employees as part of plans to slash $50 million in costs. In all, the system is cutting 234 positions, mostly by not filling vacant spots. Of the 84 people who lost their jobs, 36 were in management, said spokesman Keith Hartenberger. The system had nearly 9,000 employees before the layoffs. (Schencker, 10/5)

San Jose Mercury News: California To Crack Down On Disabled Placard Fraud

Gaming a program for drivers with disabilities is about to get much harder under a new California law set to take effect in January, starting with one common-sense measure: using federal data to help determine which disabled parking permit-holders have died. Senate Bill 611, by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, came in response to an April state audit revealing that as many as 35,000 parking placards issued to Californians whom the Social Security Death Master File listed as deceased were still in use. (Murphy, 10/5)

Chicago Tribune: How To Train Nursing Students? Schools Turn To Fake Patients

UM’s five-story, 41,000-square foot Simulation Hospital, which opened Thursday on its Coral Gables campus, is part of a growing trend of colleges building simulation centers to provide real-life experiences to students. Community colleges and vocational schools also use simulators for emergency medical technician, paramedic and medical assistant programs. Broward College opened a 66,000-square foot Health Sciences Simulation Center in 2014. Florida International University, west of Miami, opened a 16,000-square foot facility in 2010. Nova Southeastern University recently opened a new simulation center on its main Davie campus. Simulation labs are standard in other South Florida nursing programs as well. (Travis, 10/5)

Seattle Times: Washington State Family Sues Medical Center For Refusing Services To Transgender Son

The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, appears to be the first of its kind in Washington state, said ACLU staff attorney Lisa Nowlin. The ACLU contends that PeaceHealth’s blanket policy of refusing to pay for transgender medical services discriminates on the basis of sex and gender identity, violating the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits such discrimination. The lawsuit also claims PeaceHealth violated the state law against discrimination. (Young, 10/5)

San Jose Mercury News: San Leandro May Ban Flavored Tobacco Products

Flavored cigarettes, cigarillos and electronic cigarettes may soon be banned in San Leandro. The San Leandro City Council, by a 4-3 vote, approved the proposed ban Monday, following nearly two hours of public comment from city retailers and anti-smoking advocates. (Moriki, 10/5)

KCUR: KU Scientist Snags Another Big Award For Work On Antibiotic Resistance

A University of Kansas scientist who won a prestigious award last year for her work on antibiotic resistance has chalked up another major achievement. The National Institutes of Health announced Thursday morning that it’s awarding nearly $2.3 million to Joanna Slusky and her lab to further their work on combating the problem of antibiotic resistant infections. Slusky, 38, and her lab are taking a novel approach to the problem. Instead of trying to come up with new antibiotics, their focus is on efflux pumps, or the proteins within bacteria that push out antibiotics as well as toxic substances. The idea is to disable the pumps. (Margolies, 10/5)

San Jose Mercury News: Cities In Santa Clara County Scramble To Ban Marijuana Sales Ahead Of Jan. 1

Twenty years after California voters legalized marijuana for medicinal use, they took the next big step at the ballot box last November by deciding it’s OK to toke for fun too. But while 57 percent of the state’s voters embraced the recreational use of pot by approving Proposition 64, South Bay cities are sitting back and waiting for the smoke to clear before amending their local laws to let the once forbidden weed openly flourish. (Sarwari, 10/5)

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