During the height of Florida's pill mill crisis, "as many as 11 people died each day from overdoses and 90 of the country's top 100 most prolific opioid prescription writers called Florida home," according to an editorial titled "Success in fighting pill deaths" in the December 29 edition of the Tampa Bay Times.
A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University showed that besides reducing pill deaths, Florida's "multipronged approach" to getting rid of pill mills has also prevented new addictions. The Times' editorial went on to both praise the state's efforts to save lives, as well as advise that the state should not let up its efforts to protect Floridians from pill mills.
To read the editorial in full, click here.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Do We Still Need Planned Parenthood?
The way Congress has been arguing over the "manufactured controversy" over Planned Parenthood, is it possible that we've hit a new low? According to Katy Sorenson, a former Miami-Dade County Commissioner and president and CEO of The Good Government Initiative, we have.
In an op-ed piece in The Miami Herald ("Why we continue to need Planned Parenthood:), Sorenson writes, "It was shameful for members of Congress to threaten to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood. And yet attempts to slash federal funding for Planned Parenthood health centers across the country are lurking."
She goes on to write that while, yes, Planned Parenthood performs abortions for women who need them, they provide more than that.
"Defunding Planned Parenthood is more than an attack on reproductive rights," she writes. "It’s an attack on women, men and families, the one in five who have been to Planned Parenthood during their lifetime...Planned Parenthood has provided a full range of healthcare services — including life-saving cancer screenings, breast exams, contraception, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)."
To read more, go to http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article38010636.html.
In an op-ed piece in The Miami Herald ("Why we continue to need Planned Parenthood:), Sorenson writes, "It was shameful for members of Congress to threaten to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood. And yet attempts to slash federal funding for Planned Parenthood health centers across the country are lurking."
She goes on to write that while, yes, Planned Parenthood performs abortions for women who need them, they provide more than that.
"Defunding Planned Parenthood is more than an attack on reproductive rights," she writes. "It’s an attack on women, men and families, the one in five who have been to Planned Parenthood during their lifetime...Planned Parenthood has provided a full range of healthcare services — including life-saving cancer screenings, breast exams, contraception, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)."
To read more, go to http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article38010636.html.
Ted Cruz and the GOP Nomination
George F. Will discusses Ted Cruz's "audacious 'base plus' strategy" for the Republican nomination in his Washington Post opinion column.
In it, Will discusses how voter turnout affects national elections: non-Hispanic white turnout increased by 10 million between George W. Bush's 2000 election and his 2004 reelection; Barack Obama's election produced a surge of African American voters with a decline of white voters, with a higher African-American voting rate in Obama's 2012 reelection over white voters. Will states that turnout may very well put Cruz and Florida's Marco Rubio as the top two Republican contenders.
To read Will's entire piece, click here.
In it, Will discusses how voter turnout affects national elections: non-Hispanic white turnout increased by 10 million between George W. Bush's 2000 election and his 2004 reelection; Barack Obama's election produced a surge of African American voters with a decline of white voters, with a higher African-American voting rate in Obama's 2012 reelection over white voters. Will states that turnout may very well put Cruz and Florida's Marco Rubio as the top two Republican contenders.
To read Will's entire piece, click here.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Bone Marrow Transplants Save Lives
There are many ways one can save a life, one of which is registering as a bone marrow donor. In their September 4 column in the Tampa Bay Times, Dr. Jeffrey Chell and Becky Dame write about bone marrow transplants.
In the column, titled "Transplant program makes strides in fighting blood diseases," Dr. Chell and Ms. Dame state that in many cases of "blood cancers and other blood disorders...a bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant is the only cure."
The C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, named after Florida's late Rep. C.W. Bill Young, has given patients access to life-saving bone marrow for the past 30 years.
To read the column in its entirety, click here.
In the column, titled "Transplant program makes strides in fighting blood diseases," Dr. Chell and Ms. Dame state that in many cases of "blood cancers and other blood disorders...a bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant is the only cure."
The C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, named after Florida's late Rep. C.W. Bill Young, has given patients access to life-saving bone marrow for the past 30 years.
To read the column in its entirety, click here.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
EPA Still Needed, Despite Accident
While the recent unleashing of three million gallons of toxic wastewater from the Gold King Mine into the Animas River in Colorado by contractors for the Environmental Protection Agency has been called "outrageous" in a Miami Herald editorial ("Accident Aside, EPA Still Needed"), the "horrific accident helps drive home the point that the agency is needed more than ever."
The editorial states that the EPA "must keep their promises to effectively undo the damage done by the spill," as well as compensate landowners affected by it.
While thousands of Superfund sites - "hazardous-wast dumping grounds often created by irresponsible private companies" - about across the U.S., several states are fighting the EPA, including Florida. Florida is one of 17 states involved in a legal action against the EPA, "accusing it of illegally invalidating the individual air-quality protection plans in those states. The reason: In June, the EPA issued a final rule requiring 35 states, including Florida, to revise their individual State Implementation Plans governing carbon emissions during a power plant’s start-up, shutdown or malfunction."
The Miami Herald's editorial goes on to briefly outline the fight, as well as reiterating the fact that "the EPA must be allowed to carry out its extremely important role" of protecting the nation's environment.
To read the editorial in its entirety, go to http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article31135991.html#storylink=cpy.
The editorial states that the EPA "must keep their promises to effectively undo the damage done by the spill," as well as compensate landowners affected by it.
While thousands of Superfund sites - "hazardous-wast dumping grounds often created by irresponsible private companies" - about across the U.S., several states are fighting the EPA, including Florida. Florida is one of 17 states involved in a legal action against the EPA, "accusing it of illegally invalidating the individual air-quality protection plans in those states. The reason: In June, the EPA issued a final rule requiring 35 states, including Florida, to revise their individual State Implementation Plans governing carbon emissions during a power plant’s start-up, shutdown or malfunction."
The Miami Herald's editorial goes on to briefly outline the fight, as well as reiterating the fact that "the EPA must be allowed to carry out its extremely important role" of protecting the nation's environment.
To read the editorial in its entirety, go to http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article31135991.html#storylink=cpy.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Rick Scott - Worst Governer?
Is Rick Scott Florida's worst governor? That is the question Carl Hiaasen asks in his Miami Herald column ("Carl Hiaasen: Gov. Scott picks the public's pockets).
While Florida has had many governors since 1845, some good, some great, and some flat-out lousy, Hiaasen writes that, "Scott is certainly a prime contender for worst ever, and each new screwing of Floridians pushes him closer to the title."
"During the last few months, taxpayers have been soaked for more than $1 million to settle lawsuits in which Scott and his dim-bulb Cabinet flagrantly violated Florida’s open-records and open-meetings laws," Hiaasen continues. "No other sitting governor has used tax money to end public-records cases that were caused by his own secretive misbehavior. Scott couldn’t care less."
Hiaasen contines his case for Scott as "worst Florida governor ever." To read his column in its entirety, go to http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/carl-hiaasen/article31132001.html#storylink=cpy.
While Florida has had many governors since 1845, some good, some great, and some flat-out lousy, Hiaasen writes that, "Scott is certainly a prime contender for worst ever, and each new screwing of Floridians pushes him closer to the title."
"During the last few months, taxpayers have been soaked for more than $1 million to settle lawsuits in which Scott and his dim-bulb Cabinet flagrantly violated Florida’s open-records and open-meetings laws," Hiaasen continues. "No other sitting governor has used tax money to end public-records cases that were caused by his own secretive misbehavior. Scott couldn’t care less."
Hiaasen contines his case for Scott as "worst Florida governor ever." To read his column in its entirety, go to http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/carl-hiaasen/article31132001.html#storylink=cpy.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Are Florida's Seniors For Sale?
Are Florida's seniors for sale? That is the question Kelly Wilson tries to answer in her communtary in today's Palm Beach (Fla) Post.
In her commentary, Wilson writes that July 1 marked "the third anniversary of legal patient brokering in Florida."
"Since July 1, 2012, a number of senior referral providers who act as brokers making transactions involving older adults with the sole intent of receiving payment have reeled in big profits. These brokers advertise a free service to consumers and are generously rewarded for a move into a community within their fee-for-referral network," Wilson writes. Prior to this time, this referral practice was prohibited, in an effort "to protect Florida consumers."
Wilson goes on to discuss how the senior housing market, both state-wide and nationally, and why she feels protections, which have been eliminated, should be in place. To read her commentary, go to http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/opinion/commentary-are-floridas-seniors-for-sale/nm7yn/.
In her commentary, Wilson writes that July 1 marked "the third anniversary of legal patient brokering in Florida."
"Since July 1, 2012, a number of senior referral providers who act as brokers making transactions involving older adults with the sole intent of receiving payment have reeled in big profits. These brokers advertise a free service to consumers and are generously rewarded for a move into a community within their fee-for-referral network," Wilson writes. Prior to this time, this referral practice was prohibited, in an effort "to protect Florida consumers."
Wilson goes on to discuss how the senior housing market, both state-wide and nationally, and why she feels protections, which have been eliminated, should be in place. To read her commentary, go to http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/opinion/commentary-are-floridas-seniors-for-sale/nm7yn/.
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