�������ýҕ�l

About 4.6 million people signed up for Obamacare through the fifth week of open enrollment, with roughly 923,000 people newly enrolled, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Enrollment is up 20 percent in Texas and 9 percent in Florida compared to this time last year, administration officials told reporters Wednesday evening, crediting increased subsidies from the American Rescue Plan. (Levy, 12/9)

In Arizona, a nursing home resident was sexually assaulted in the dining room. In Minnesota, a woman caught Covid-19 after workers moved a coughing resident into her room. And in Texas, a woman with dementia was found in her nursing home’s parking lot, lying in a pool of blood. State inspectors determined that all three homes had endangered residents and violated federal regulations. Yet the federal government didn’t report the incidents to the public or factor them into its influential ratings system. The homes kept their glowing grades. (Gebeloff, Thomas and Silver-Greenberg, 12/9)

The first of 19 naloxone vending machines to be located around the state will be placed at the St. Joseph County Jail in South Bend, Gov. Eric Holcomb has announced. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a drug to reverse overdoses from opioids. ... The machine holds up to 300 naloxone kits and is free to the public to access. (12/9)

An interim legislative committee on Thursday unanimously voted to reject industry rules proposed by the Department of Revenue's new cannabis division, with plans to rework the proposal early next week. The deadline to wrap up the department's rules is quickly approaching, with legalization taking full effect Jan. 1 and marijuana providers gearing up for the state's first recreational market. (Larson, 12/9)

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham authorized legislators Thursday to take emergency action to update New Mexico’s new medical malpractice law to address insurance concerns raised by independent medical practices and physicians. She amended her proclamation for the special legislative session that began this week to allow lawmakers to take up a bill clarifying that independent physicians aren’t considered employees or agents of a hospital – and thus exposed to more legal liability – if they visit a hospital to perform surgery or handle other work. (McKay, 12/9)

A panel of West Virginia lawmakers has approved giving up its power to review environmental regulator-approved changes to water pollution control permit limits based on revisions to water quality criteria. (Tony, 12/9)

A new push for a family and medical leave program in Maine faces a tight Feb. 1 deadline to establish details and get an expert’s estimate on the thorny questions of how much it will cost and who will pay for it. If enacted, its recommendations would make Maine the 14th state with a specific family and medical paid leave law, which would allow paid time off for workers welcoming a child, recovering from a health issue or taking care of a loved one. (Valigra, 12/10)

A former UCLA student has sued the university, alleging she was sexually battered as a patient by gynecologist Edward Wiesmeier, who oversaw student health services for a quarter-century. As an undergraduate in 2000 or 2001, the woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, went to the UCLA Student Health Center for routine gynecological care. Instead, court documents show, she “was subjected to sexual contact and — later — to an excruciatingly painful and sexually abusive ‘procedure’ by Dr. Wiesmeier,” who at the time was an assistant vice chancellor at the university. (Winton, 12/9)

With the help of pink alien-looking salamanders about the size of a hot dog, scientists at a Bar Harbor laboratory are hoping to unlock secrets about how humans can regrow their limbs and bodily organs. Used for the research at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, the axolotl, pronounced “aksuh-lottle,” has an uncanny ability to regrow legs, or significant parts of its retinas, heart and brain, as well as other parts of its body. It’s native to Mexico. (Trotter, 12/10)