The Iowa Senate has unanimously approved a bill designed to accelerate the access terminally ill Iowans have to medications being tested in federally-approved drug trials. Republican Senator Rick Bertrand sponsored the bill after Todd Oss — a Sioux City native who’s been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease — told Bertrand this so-called “right to try” legislation was being considered in other states. “He currently is in let’s just say the sunset of life,” Bertrand says, “and I think that with the passage of this gives him some satisfaction that there’s going to other options for patients that are terminally ill in the state of Iowa.”

Terminally ill Americans can seek a “compassionate care” waiver from the federal government to try medications that have gotten initial approval for clinical trials, but aren’t yet available by prescription. That process, however, requires a lot of paperwork and a lot of time. Senator Jeff Danielson, a Democrat from Cedar Falls, says this bill would speed access not only to medications, but to devices being tested as treatment for incurable illnesses like Huntington’s Disease, A-L-S, and advanced forms of cancer.

“I think we all know an Iowan who’s been in a circumstance with a terminally ill diagnosis,” Danielson says, “and we’d do anything we can to improve their quality of
life.” In other action Tuesday, all 50 senators approved a bill that would allow pharmacists to dispense a 90-day supply of prescription drugs. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says there are thousands of Iowans who have taken the same drug for years as treatment for a chronic condition like high blood pressure.

“Allowing a pharmacist to dispense a 90-day supply will reduce the number of trips Iowans have to make to the pharmacy, decrease out-of-pocket expenditures,” Bolkcom says. Walgreens is the country’s largest retail drug chain and the company has found that patients who are able to buy a 90-day supply of their prescription drugs are more likely to use cheaper generic medication and have saved an average of 23 dollars a year.

This bill AND the “right to try” bill must clear the Iowa House and be approved by the governor before the policies would become state law.

(Radio Iowa)

A Sheriff’s Deputy from Guthrie County was injured during a crash between a car and a Sheriff’s Department SUV. The Iowa State Patrol reports Deputy Kent Gries, of Guthrie Center, who was wearing his seat belt, suffered minor injuries, and was transported by Guthrie County EMS to the Guthrie County Hospital, following the crash that occurred at around 3-p.m. Tuesday on the northwest side of Bagley.

Authorities say Deputy Gries was traveling east on Highway 141 in a 2015 Chevy Tahoe, when a 2004 Hyundai Elantra traveling south on Quail Road, failed to stop at the intersection. The car struck the SUV on the driver’s side door, causing the SUV to spin and enter a ditch. The car, driven by 20-year old Kylee Sheeder, of Panora, came to rest on the road.

Sheeder, who was not wearing a seat belt, told authorities she had no recollection of failing to obey the stop sign. The incident was captured on the SUV’s dash cam.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Republican-majority House has passed several bills that would expand gun rights in Iowa, including legislation that would allow children under 14 to use handguns with parental supervision. The House voted Tuesday in support of five gun bills that now head to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it’s unclear if they will get enough support to advance.

The legislation includes a measure that would restrict public access to information about gun owners and another bill that would allow people to use their guns in a state of emergency. Another bill would legalize the use of suppressors.

Rep. Matt Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley, says the bills protect Second Amendment rights. Rev. Cheryl Thomas, with Iowans for Gun Safety, says some of the legislation is designed to weaken Iowa’s gun laws.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – A new Purdue University study says grain bin entrapments and other confined space accidents on the nation’s farms fell to their lowest level in a decade last year. Iowa led the nation with seven incidents.

Purdue’s study shows the U.S. had 47 entrapments in grain bins and other confined spaces in 2015. That’s 34 percent less than 2014’s 71 entrapments and the fewest since 46 were recorded in 2006. Purdue says 25 people died last year in entrapments, down from 31 in 2014.

But Bill Field, a Purdue professor of agricultural safety and health, says many nonfatal entrapments go unreported each year because there’s no mandatory national reporting system.

In addition to Iowa, other states reporting grain bin entrapment deaths include: Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin and South Dakota.

The Audubon County Community Foundation reminds students that the deadline for submitting applications for the Exira Lions Club/Harold and Beverly Ann Godwin Endowed Scholarship is March 31st. The Fund will award one scholarship for $1,000 and is open to any high school senior from the Exira-EHK School District pursuing a two or four-year degree, full-time, at any accredited vocational/technical, educational institution, a college or university.

Applicants are asked to complete the application form and submit it with a copy of their current transcripts to their high school guidance counselor, as directed in the scholarship’s fact sheet. Scholarship applications are available from the guidance counselor.

The Audubon County Community Foundation Board members are: Chair, Brett Irlmeier of Audubon; Vice Chair, Jonnie Meislahn of Audubon; Secretary/Treasurer, Barbara Johnson of Audubon; Genelle Deist of Audubon; Jay Nelson of rural Brayton; Daryl Olsen, DVM, of Audubon; and Joseph T. Rasmussen of Exira.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A trial is set to begin for a Council Bluffs woman accused of fatally stabbing her ex-boyfriend. The Daily Nonpareil reports the trial of Jodie Sherman, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the July 2014 death of Douglas Richt, was starting today (Tuesday) at the Pottawattamie County Courthouse in Council Bluffs.

Sherman is accused of stabbing Richt in the throat during an argument after he picked her up in a car. Richt died while being taken to a hospital. Sherman was arrested shortly after running away. During a Monday pre-trial hearing, Pottawattamie County Attorney Matthew Wilber said defense attorneys are expected to use the defense of insanity.  On Feb. 9, Sherman waived her right to a jury, so District Judge Kathleen Kilnoski will hand down a verdict.

The Cass County Community Foundation reminds students that the deadline for submitting applications for the Dustin McCurdy Endowed Scholarship Fund is March 31st. The McCurdy Scholarship provides two scholarships of approximately $500 each to high school seniors from Cumberland Anita Massena High School (C-A-M).

Applicants are asked to complete the application form and submit it with a copy of their current transcripts to their guidance counselor as directed in the scholarship’s fact sheet. Applications are available from their high school guidance counselor.

Board members of the Cass County Community Foundation are: Chair, Nicholas Hunt of rural Atlantic; Vice Chair, Gary Maas of Anita; Secretary/Treasurer, Roland K. Landsness, Esq. of Atlantic; Royal Bierbaum of rural Griswold; Beulah Follmann of Massena; and Mark D. Kyhnn, CPA of Atlantic.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest on Monday, of 28-year old Casey Sampson, of Atlantic. Sampson was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. He was booked into the Cass County Jail.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The group that runs the Powerball lottery game approved, then abandoned, changes that would have given ticket buyers more bang for their two bucks than the redesign implemented last year. Powerball managers changed the game’s odds in October to build bigger jackpots and revive lagging player interest. The strategy quickly paid dividends for state lotteries, causing soaring ticket sales as a jackpot grew to a record $1.6 billion last month.

Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press show a different Powerball overhaul was initially planned to increase jackpots while providing more value for players. The “Power Play” that multiplies cash prizes for an extra $1 would have been embedded in the base $2 ticket. A new $1 add-on would have entered players into a second jackpot drawing for $10 million.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker has announced the placement of a permanent Medication Drop box (Iowa Take Back drop box) located in the Jail lobby of the Sheriff’s Office located at 1400 Big Lake Road. Sheriff Danker said the drop box is made possible through a small grant from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy to address the increasing problem of prescription drug abuse. The drop box will be accessible to the public during normal business hours or Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Citizens wishing to utilize the medication drop box are asked to place all medications in sealed nonbreakable containers and are requested to not include any “sharps” (syringes or lancets) or any other item that could cause injury to the Sheriff’s Office staff servicing the drop box. Remove all personal identification from your unneeded “controlled prescription drugs,” seal the medicines in vials and/or bags, take them to your nearest Iowa Take Back drop box site, and anonymously place your medicines in the secure drop box.

Find additional Iowa Take Back sites at: http://www.iowa.gov/odcp/drug_information/takebacks.html. Most prescription drug drop boxes are located a short distance inside the main public entrance of local law enforcement centers. If you have questions, call ahead to the law enforcement agency.