Health

Michigan has its first confirmed case this year of a polio-like illness called acute flaccid myelitis or AFM. The patient is a child in Wayne County.

Nationally, there have been 134 cases of acute flaccid myelitis in 2018. AFM  can cause muscle weakness, facial drooping and paralysis. Most of those affected have been children.  

Lynn Sutfin is a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

"This is incredibly rare," Sutfin emphasizes. "This is the only case we've had diagnosed and confirmed in Michigan this year. Just definitely keep an eye out; ask your health care provider if you're concerned, but we definitely don't want anyone panicking."

The deadline to sign up for 2019 Affordable Care Act health plans is less than two weeks away, and fewer new Michiganders are signing up for Obamacare.

It’s not just Michigan. Online signups on the online Obamacare marketplace are down nationwide.

Analysts point to several possible reasons why fewer people are signing up for health insurance through the ACA marketplace. 

Two Detroit Medical Center hospitals are in danger of losing federal payments after they failed health and safety inspections last month.

State inspectors found multiple infection control violations at Detroit’s Harper and Receiving Hospitals, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services informed both hospitals in letters earlier this month.

Patients who are prescribed opioids for post-surgical pain only use a quarter of their prescriptions on average, according to a new study.

The study from the University of Michigan looked at 2,392 surgical patients across 33 of the state's health systems.

Beaumont Health will build a new, $40 million mental health hospital in Dearborn as part of a plan to expand its mental health services.

The 150-bed facility is the centerpiece of that expansion. Set to open in 2021, Beaumont says it will double its capacity for inpatient psychiatric services and serve as a coordinating hub for mental health care across the health system.

The State of Michigan has launched a new website to bring information together in one location about opioid addiction and how to get help.

Before, this information was scattered among various state agencies.

Michigan's largest health insurance plans got poor or failing grades in a report on drug coverage for autoimmune diseases.  

The report was issued by the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA), based on research by Dr. Kenneth E. Thorpe and Manasvini Singh of Emory University.

Four children in Michigan may have a rare condition known as acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM.

AFM affects a person’s nervous system, specifically the spinal cord, causing weakness in one or more limbs. The Centers for Disease Control says AFM is associated with viruses such as West Nile, poliovirus, and non-polio enterovirus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people dying from overdoses involving prescription opioids was five times higher in 2016 than 1999.

Legislation awaiting President Trump’s signature aims to bring that number down.

The bill enhances access for medication assisted treatment, provides grant money to increase capacity at treatment centers and increases screening and drug management programs.  

Officials broke ground Friday for a new state psychiatric hospital to be built in the Thumb.

For more than a hundred years, the hospital in the small community of Caro, about 30 miles east of Saginaw, has been treating Michiganders with serious illnesses. Starting in 1914, the facility treated people suffering from epilepsy.  The focus shifted to patients with psychiatric disorders in the 1950s.

A Meijer pharmacist in Petoskey refused for religious reasons to fill a customer's prescription that was medically necessary to treat her miscarriage, according to a letter of complaint filed yesterday with Meijer by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan on behalf of the customer.

The letter says the pharmacist, Richard Kalkman, also refused to let the customer, Rachel Peterson, talk to another Meijer pharmacist or transfer her prescription to another pharmacy.

Nurses represented by the University of Michigan Professional Nurses Council have overwhelmingly ratified a three year contract with the U of M's medical center.

Both university and union officials praised the agreement for its commitment to patient safety and high quality care.

The old contract had expired at the end of June, and the new agreement comes after claims of unfair labor practices and a threatened strike.

Michigan will get more than $50 million from the federal government to help fight the state’s opioid epidemic. The money will be spread out over two years and used for three purposes – prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley says he’s excited about being able to use the money for increased training of doctors in addiction medicine. That’s because, he says, addiction treatment is an emerging field.

Nurses at the University of Michigan say they’ve reached a tentative three-year agreement with Michigan Medicine, ending their threat of a strike.

Just last week U of M nurses voted to authorize their union to call a three-day work stoppage, citing unfair labor practices. Ninety-four percent of the votes were in favor of the authorization.

State health officials are urging Michiganders to be tested for several sexually transmitted diseases.

Until recently, Michigan has seen a slow decline in chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases. But a new report shows cases of all three STDs spiked last year. Chlamydia cases are up 8%. Gonorrhea jumped 20%.  Syphilis rose 28%.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says a majority of the increases occurred among adolescents, African-American men and women, and men who have sex with other men.

Healthy Michigan means better credit for Michigan’s low-income residents. That’s according to a new study on the state’s Medicaid expansion released Monday. It found that people on the plan improved their financial health after getting the insurance coverage.

Sarah Miller is a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. She worked on the study. Miller says they found that because people were in less financial stress health-wise, they didn’t overdraw their credit cards and they paid bills on time. That means their credit scores got better.

A pilot project in western Wayne County will offer people struggling with opioid addiction a possible path to recovery.

The Rescue Recovery program will provide people referred from St. Mary Mercy Livonia hospital or one of 18 participating law enforcement agencies with the opportunity to go through specialized detoxification treatment at the hospital.

Governor Rick Snyder has submitted a waiver to require people on Healthy Michigan to work for their health insurance benefits. 

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill, introduced by Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, that prohibits gag clauses on pharmacists.  

A new University of Michigan study finds expanded Medicaid coverage is increasing access to family planning and birth control for poor women in Michigan.

Michigan expanded its Medicaid program in 2014 as part of the Affordable Care Act.   In all, 32 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid programs under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

More than 600,000 Michiganders receive health care coverage through the Healthy Michigan program.  

While official data is still coming in, it appears that Michigan’s drug overdose deaths are continuing their upward trajectory since the start of 2017.

According to projections from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control released earlier this month, Michigan saw 2,662 drug-related deaths in 2017.

A state board has approved 16 medical marijuana licenses. Licenses have been approved at all stages of the medical marijuana system– from dispensaries to testing labs. But there’s been some concern about having enough pot shops open for patients.

Starting September 15th, any dispensary that doesn’t have a license will have to close.

David Harns is a spokesperson for the Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation. He says once the deadline hits, there should be enough open dispensaries to meet the need.