Health
September statewide bus tour set to draw attention to resources that support Georgians struggling with addiction
A convoy of behavioral health care groups is hitting the road for a statewide bus tour in time for national recovery month in September. At a press conference this week, the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities announced they are partnering with the Georgia Council for Recovery and the Clinton Foundation for a […]
Federal staffing mandate for nursing homes ignores underlying problems driving staffing shortages
The Biden administration is expected to soon issue a federal minimum staffing mandate for long term care facilities as a remedy for the nursing home sector’s labor shortage. In theory, it seems well intentioned, but in practice, it’s unworkable. I know the ins and outs of the long term care industry having served as an […]
Abortion pill to stay on the market until U.S. Supreme Court ruling after appeals court order
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday the abortion pill can stay on the market, but it agreed with a lower court that ultimately use should revert to prescribing and dosage instructions that were in place before 2016. That appeals court ruling will immediately be put on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to […]
Families struggle as slow rollout of Georgia’s medical cannabis program delays relief
At 13, Darrell Johns of Macon weighed just 40 pounds and endured at least five seizures a week, said his mom and full-time caregiver Leslie Johns. “I was having to crush 17 pills a day to run through his G tube, and he was still having seizures,” she said. “And the Diastat, which is Valium, […]
Rural Georgia gets more contraceptive options through expanded delivery of birth control implants
The Georgia Department of Public Health is kicking off its Power of Family Planning program, an initiative that aims to reduce unintended or complicated pregnancies. And women in rural Georgia stand to benefit the most. Now registered nurses are allowed to administer contraceptive implants, such as Nexplanon, into the arm. Previously, the implantable could only […]
PACT Act in one year aided 340,000 ailing veterans and survivors, Biden says
WASHINGTON — One of the “most significant laws ever signed to help veterans” has already assisted over 340,000 former service members and their survivors seeking care for illnesses and cancers now presumed to be connected to open burn pits and other toxins, President Joe Biden said in Utah on Thursday as he marked one year since the […]
Sluggish start to Georgia’s modest expansion of Medicaid reignites debate over health coverage policies
Fewer than 300 people have been approved for Georgia’s new Medicaid program for some low-income adults who rack up enough hours of work, or other qualifying activity, each month. The program, which launched July 1, is being closely watched nationally as Georgia becomes the only state to require work or the equivalent for low-income adults […]
Study cited by Texas judge in abortion-pill case under investigation
Pharmaceutical sciences professor Chris Adkins was perusing news on his computer in December when he came across an item that fascinated him: Anti-abortion groups had sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to force a recall on a commonly used abortion drug. Adkins teaches future pharmacists at South University School of Pharmacy* in Savannah, Georgia. […]
Veterans exposed to burn pits, toxins urged to apply for retroactive benefits
WASHINGTON — A deadline for a year’s worth of backdated benefits is fast approaching for U.S. veterans suffering illnesses after exposure to open burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxins. Nearly a year ago, President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act, a law supporters describe as the largest expansion of veteran benefits in U.S. history. The law […]
‘Everything is on the table’ as Georgia lawmakers consider lifting hospital construction limits
AUGUSTA – Georgia lawmakers from the House and Senate are putting the state’s system to restrict hospital and other health care services under a microscope this summer. Both chambers have set up study committees to examine Georgia’s certificate of need program during the legislative off-season after Lt. Gov. Burt Jones came up short in his […]
More than 63,000 Georgia kids lost Medicaid access to doctor last month snared in red tape
Children accounted for about two-thirds of the nearly 96,000 Georgians who lost their Medicaid coverage last month as part of the nationwide unwinding of a pandemic-era federal policy. And most of the children – 63,481 of them – had their health insurance terminated for procedural reasons, according to information provided by the state Department of […]
Parents have no right to allow their children’s gender transition, Republicans say
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on a panel for limited federal government on Thursday argued that parents should not be allowed to let their transgender children have access to gender-affirming care. “A parent has no right to sexually transition a young child,” the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, […]