Iowa hospital employee steals painkillers | Des Moines (Iowa) Register
A Des Moines hospital pharmacy employee stole powerful painkillers rather than giving them to patients over a six-week period, according to a local media report.
ACLU wants feds to investigate Catholic hospitals' ban on sterilization procedures | Michigan Public Radio
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint against a Flint, Mich.-area Catholic hospital with the HHS' Office for Civil Rights. The complaint says Ascension Health and its subsidiary, Genesys Health System, would not allow doctors to perform a medically necessary tubal ligation on a pregnant woman with a brain tumor.
South Dakota hospitals don't have to turn over documents, court rules | (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader
South Dakota hospitals and doctors can commit crimes against patients and not be required to turn over evidence of those crimes, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Massachusetts doctor files lawsuit seeking right to die: 'It's an option that I want to have' | Boston Globe
A retired Falmouth, Mass., physician who has metastatic prostate cancer filed a lawsuit this week in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston asserting he has a constitutional right to obtain a lethal dose of medication from his doctor and choose when he dies to avoid needless suffering.
California rules about violence against health workers could become a model | National Public Radio
Workers in California's hospitals and doctors' offices may be less likely to get hit, kicked, bitten or grabbed under workplace standards adopted by a state workplace safety board.
Massachusetts hospital CEO resigns | Boston Business Journal
Peter Holden is stepping down from his position as CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth to "pursue new opportunities," the hospital said Wednesday. He's out Nov. 4, and the hospital's current senior vice president of system development will head up a search for his replacement.
Sanofi partners with Brazil to accelerate Zika vaccine work | Reuters
Sanofi has struck a collaboration deal with a leading Brazilian research institute to speed development of a Zika vaccine, consolidating the French drugmaker's position in the race to defeat the mosquito-borne virus.
Patient Zero in AIDS crisis was misidentified, study says, rewriting early history of virus | Statnews.com
Newly published research is rewriting the earliest chapter of the historical account of how the AIDS epidemic began in the United States. The work, detailed in a study released Wednesday, discounts the long-held notion that a French-Canadian flight attendant, whose story was highlighted in the seminal book “And the Band Played On,” brought the virus to the United States.
Senators ask for DEA data in wake of Washington Post investigation | Washington Post
Two senators asked Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Wednesday to explain a sharp drop in the number of enforcement actions against large pharmaceutical distributors and others by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) requested a wide variety of information about cases brought by DEA's Diversion Control Division in the wake of a Washington Post investigation published over the weekend.
Liberal groups call for delaying cures bill to next year | The Hill
A coalition of liberal groups is calling for a medical cures bill to be delayed until next year so that solutions for high drug prices can be added into it, a major obstacle for a bill that leadership has said it hopes to pass in the lame-duck session after the election.
Teladoc announces pilot project with Red Cross to provide telehealth during crises | D Healthcare Daily
Lewisville, Texas-based Teladoc announced Wednesday that it is launching a pilot project with the American Red Cross to provide telemedicine services to patients in disaster areas.