Advocacy group publicizes child deaths from accidental shootings

Almost two children a week were killed in unintentional shootings during the 12 months that followed the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to a report by the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety. In other public health news, JAMA writes about a policy that helped two states ease geographic disparities in allocating donor kidneys and The Associated Press examines the effects of a landmark court decision affecting people with disabilities.

MinnPost: More U.S. Children Killed In Accidental Shootings Than You Might Think
At least 100 children aged 14 and under were killed in unintentional shootings in the United States during the 12 months that followed the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, according to a report published Wednesday by the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety. That's almost two children each week -; and a number that is significantly higher than the one reflected in federal statistics (Perry, 6/26).

news@JAMA:  Kidney Transplant Patients May Reap Big Benefits From Small Policy Changes
An experimental policy that helped 2 states ease their geographic disparities in allocating donor kidneys may play a role in alleviating similar discrepancies nationwide, according to a new study. National policy now specifies that if a donor kidney isn't used in the donor service area that requested it, the organ then is offered regionally or nationally. The United States has 58 donor service areas, which are designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Despite a 1998 rule from the US Department of Health and Human Services requiring geographic parity for kidney transplants, wait times for a donor kidney can vary among donor services areas, even those located next to each other (Voelker, 6/26).

Associated Press: Checkered Progress On Disabled Care Despite Ruling
Brent Kaderli has a wheelchair-accessible van waiting in the driveway, a hospital bed in a spare bedroom and an electric lift that's left unused. If the 30-year-old quadriplegic had his way, he'd be living here, in his father's house, with help from aides. Instead, he is in an institution, hoping each day for a place that feels more like a home. Fifteen years after a landmark Supreme Court ruling that the disabled should be given the choice to live outside nursing homes, mental hospitals and other institutions, its legacies are dueling. Progress has been made in every state to keep more aged and disabled people in their homes and communities, but only half of Medicaid spending goes to such care, with the services routinely denied by a system that favors institutions even though they're typically more expensive to taxpayers (Sedensky, 6/26).