A class-action suit being filed in U.S. district court today alleges that thousands of Texans with severe mental and physical disabilities are confined in nursing homes with no access to rehabilitative care.
Health care
In-depth reporting on public health, healthcare policy, hospitals, and wellness issues shaping communities across Texas, from The Texas Tribune.
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Health care
Left, Behind
The prevailing theory among Republicans, at least publicly, is that their House herd of 101 will always move together as one, and there will be peace and harmony in the land and all that.
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Health care
Struggling to Sue
The tort reform state lawmakers passed in 2003 made it more difficult for patients to win damages in any health care setting, but none more so than emergency rooms, where plaintiffs must prove doctors acted with “willful and wanton” negligence. Tort reform advocates say the law is needed to protect ER doctors operating in volatile environments. But medical malpractice attorneys argue the threshold is nearly impossible to cross. “You’d have to be a Nazi death camp guard to meet this standard,” says one.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramsey on what a GOP supermajority means, Ramshaw on a crime victim not eligible for crime victims’ compensation, M. Smith on grave matters and state regulation, Hamilton on the college pipeline at San Antonio’s Jefferson High, Hu on a senator’s anticlimactic return, Grissom on the coming closure of juvenile lockups, Aguilar on the return of residents to their drug-war-torn Mexican town, Galbraith on next session’s energy agenda, Philpott on the legal fight over federal health care reform and Stiles on the travel expenses of House members: The best of our best from Dec. 13 to 17, 2010.
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Criminal Justice
Diagnosis: Unconstitutional
A federal court’s ruling on Monday declaring parts of federal health care reform unconstitutional elicited plenty of reaction in Texas, which is part of a separate attempt to repeal the new law. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.
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Health care
TribBlog: Backtracking On McAllen?
New Yorker writer Atul Gawande put McAllen’s medical providers on the defensive in a 2009 article, claiming the region’s health care was among the most expensive in the U.S. In a new blog post, Gawande seems to backtrack — at least in part.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Abbott Gives Virginia Ruling Thumbs Up [Updated]
A Virginia federal district court judge’s ruling today that the individual mandate portion of the Obama health care law is unconstitutional is a “huge victory” for Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a phone interview.
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Health care
Fat and Skinny
That steady drip, drip, drip in the biennial Scare the Speaker thing has been plugged for the moment. Scratching around for other amusements, we came upon a congressional map for Texas showing who’s got too few and too many people in their congressional districts.
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Health care
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Galbraith on wood chips and green energy, Aguilar on why conservatives might get the appeal of medical marijuana, Philpott on an effort to uncloak the hidden costs of government, Ramshaw and Galewitz of Kaiser Health News on federal plans to send less money to Texas for Medicaid, Aaronson visualizes who’s currently covered by Medicaid and how the billions are spent, E. Smith’s interview on higher ed and the “speaker drama” with Dan Branch, Hamilton on the costs of a losing football season, Grissom on Hispanic farmers’ reaction to a federal settlement in a widespread discrimination case, Hu on what’s ahead for Democratic legislators after an electoral drubbing, Chang on the rise of hepatitis B among Asian-Americans and M. Smith on the cuts likely for Texas classrooms in the wake of a record budget shortfall: The best of our best from Dec. 6 to 10, 2010.
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Health care
A “B” for Effort
One in 10 Asian-Americans has hepatitis B, a rate that is 20 times higher than the rest of the population — and is surely pronounced in Houston, which has the fourth-largest Asian population of any U.S. metropolitan area. But state public health officials struggle to get funding for vaccinations and outreach.