- Nevada leaders want Heller to explain how key parts of ACA will be replaced if measure is repealed (reviewjournal.com)
The top two Democrats in the Nevada Legislature are calling on U.S. Sen. Dean Heller to explain how Republicans in Congress will replace key provisions of the Affordable Care Act if they repeal it...Aaron Ford and Jason Frierson...sent a letter...posing...questions to Nevada’s senior senator in Congress...the state leaders asked what steps will be taken to ensure people who purchased coverage through the state exchange and those who receive federal tax credits will still be able to buy affordable insurance...what will be done to ensure more than 217,000 Nevadans receiving coverage under expanded Medicaid eligibility will remain covered; guarantees for women’s health care; and continued mandates to cover people with pre-existing conditions and allow parents to keep children on their policies until age 26...“I would anticipate nobody’s going to lose their health care for the next two or three years until the replacement is put in place,” Heller said...
- Scheduling data altered at VA’s Las Vegas-area mental health clinics, report says (reviewjournal.com)
Schedulers for VA mental health services in the Las Vegas area altered wait time data in 2013, months before a national scandal erupted over similar practices at a VA hospital in Arizona, according to a long-delayed report by the agency’s inspector general...A report summary by the Veterans Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, published this week, did not conclude that the practices were a deliberate attempt to fool a tracking system of wait times...But it noted that “several of the (medical support assistants) interviewed indicated that they were directed by supervisors to manipulate scheduling data.”…In response to the report, the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System...disputed the allegation that the wait times were deliberately manipulated to fool the tracking system, saying the Inspector General’s Office found no hard evidence to support the claims...Rep. Dina Titus...released a statement...calling the allegations in the initial complaint troubling and requesting a briefing on steps taken to ensure the problems have been resolved...“I have been assured for years that this was not happening in our state,” Titus said...“Such behavior is shameful and unacceptable.”
- Naloxone now available without a prescription at all CVS Pharmacy locations in Nevada (drugstorenews.com)
Naloxone is now available without a prescription at all CVS Pharmacy locations in Nevada...(CVS) stated it established a standing order with physicians in the Sliver State that allows CVS Pharmacy to expand access to the medication across the state...Naloxone is a safe and effective antidote to opioid overdoses and by expanding access to this medication in our Nevada pharmacies by the use of a physician's standing order for patients without a prescription…We are dedicated to helping the communities we serve address and prevent drug abuse and we are expanding access to naloxone to give more people a chance to get the help they need for recovery...CVS Health now dispenses naloxone in 37 states.
- Escalation Of Antibiotic-Resistant Infections Is A ‘Train Wreck’ (kunr.org)
The increase in antibiotic-resistant infections is an escalating medical problem. The misuse of antibiotics has enabled some bacteria to adapt, rendering some drugs ineffective...According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million people in the United States become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotic each year. And more than 20 thousand die annually as a result...To learn more about this public health threat, Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray sits down with Dr. James Wilson, who heads the Nevada Center for Infectious Disease Forecasting at the University of Nevada, Reno...
- Thousands of medical marijuana dispensary applications possibly leaked in Nevada (lasvegasnow.com)
The state of Nevada’s government website has potentially exposed the personal data on over 11,700 applicants for dispensing medical marijuana in the state...each application, eight pages in length, includes the person’s full name, home address, citizenship, and even their weight and height, race, and eye and hair color. The applications also include the applicant’s citizenship, their driving license number, and social security number...A Google search done by a man in Dallas led to the discovery of the problem. Justin Shafer said he discovered the breach Tuesday night while he was looking to see if any government websites had errantly posted social security numbers online. Shafer said he noticed one of the completed applications pop up in the search results with a social security number in plain view...Many of the people affected are employed by members of the Nevada Dispensary Association…Riana Durrett, executive director of Nevada Dispensary Association...says she's been assured the state is focusing all of its efforts to fix the breach...The state disabled the website...as a precaution...
- Nevada shows uptick in enrollments for Affordable Care Act (reviewjournal.com)
About a week after the largest-ever open enrollment day for Affordable Care Act coverage, federal health officials are reporting a year-to-year enrollment increase, with states including Nevada posting an uptick...Nevadans...coverage increased about 3 percent — or by about 1,900 people — over 2015…The number of plan selections...was 60,617 in Nevada, compared with 58,752 by last year’s...deadline...In a statement Wednesday, officials argued the increase showed “clear demand for quality, affordable coverage.”
- Makers of Abilify drug settle with 43 states, including Nevada, for $19.5M (reviewjournal.com)
Nevada is expected to receive nearly $300,000 in a multistate settlement with a pharmaceutical company accused of marketing a drug to patient groups for which they didn’t have federal approval and mischaracterizing the drug’s risks...Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, which partnered with Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. to market antipsychotic drug Abilify, settled with 43 states for $19.5 million, according to an announcement Thursday by the office of Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt...The company was accused of marketing the drug to seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia despite the fact the drug wasn’t approved for those purposes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
- IV treatments, including for hangovers, a growing trend in Las Vegas amid criticism (reviewjournal.com)
New Year’s Day might be the time for looking ahead, but a headache from the night before can make that hard to do...Drip Doctors is hoping to help New Year’s revelers on the Las Vegas Strip boost their spirits and welcome 2017 in good health by running its mobile IV vitamin therapy unit on Sunday...The van, which will roam the Strip and travel to any off-Strip appointments, will provide intravenous nutrients to consumers suffering from issues such as hangovers and nausea...The business, which advertises its services as a quick way to improve overall energy, immunity and recovery from ailments including a headache or cold, has plans for two brick-and-mortar valley locations, one on Dean Martin Drive near the Rio and another at The District at Green Valley Ranch. Both are expected to open by March…IV vitamin therapy isn’t without controversy...Many facilities that offer such treatments are considered medical spas, which can have little to no direct state oversight in Nevada if they do not perform medical treatments...Critics of the therapy also say it’s unnecessary for most healthy people, overly expensive and a potential source of infection if done too often...
- Cannabis Testing Lab In Nevada Gains Accreditation For Quality Standards (kunr.org)
As the marijuana industry is expanding in Nevada, cannabis testing labs are playing an important role in the quality of the end-product...a local facility is upping the standard of its operations...Jason Strull is a toxicologist at 374 Labs located in Northern Nevada. The facility recently received additional accreditation—ISO 17025—from an independent, non-governmental auditor for its stringent testing methods, yielding consistent results regarding toxicology and potency...“And as far as cannabis testing goes, it’s sort of the wild, wild West,” Strull explains. “So what this shows to potential customers, and just the general public, is that we’re going the extra mile.”
- 5 plead guilty to federal charges for roles in drug ring (reviewjournal.com)
Five defendants pleaded guilty to federal charges for their roles in a drug ring that shipped crystal methamphetamine and oxycodone...Justin Lowe, Brandon Trivett, Lamar Skipper, Tanner Curd and Gary Childress, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine or oxycodone. Separately, Skipper pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. A federal investigation found that traffickers were shipping the drugs from Las Vegas to southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky via package delivery companies like FedEx and the United States Parcel Service...The operation generated at least $1 million in drug proceeds and the money was transferred through bank accounts or wired...