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Health Care

DeSantis risks lives with bad COVID advice

What possible explanation can Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo have for suggesting that Floridians under 65 should not receive the latest COVID-19 booster? COVID-19 boosters have proven to save lives. According to NPR, researchers from Yale University who studied the pandemic’s effects on Florida and Ohio say that from the start, in

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Call to Action

Help pass amendment to ease abortion restrictions

The conditions surrounding human pregnancy are complex. But one condition prevails: the decision to give birth has serious lifetime consequences to the woman. Therefore, the woman’s reproductive decisions should be entrusted only to her in consultation with a trusted medical advisor of her choice. The role of government should be to protect the privacy of

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Health Care

Maybe Florida should restrict sale of Viagra

The following Letter to the Editor was published in The Daily Sun on May 20, 2023. Who controls women’s reproductive decisions? Seventy of Florida’s legislators and Governor DeSantis have decided that the Florida Legislature should control the reproductive decisions of all women in the state of Florida. It appears that our legislators will not be

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Florida Legislation

Florida remains stubborn on Medicaid expansion

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on April 1, 2023.  OUR POSITION: We implore the Legislature to consider expanding Medicaid before it adjourns this month. One more time. The Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis need to embrace expansion of Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of needy Floridians. We’ve said it before and

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Health Care

Ladapo’s claims, beliefs are a concern

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on March 23, 2023. OUR POSITION: Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is not protecting Florida residents by spouting his theories and opinions on COVID that run counter to all medical knowledge we have about the disease. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is doing no favors for people

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Health Care

Hospital critics have their own agenda

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on Feb 27, 2023. OUR POSITION: Critics of a Sarasota Memorial Hospital report on its COVID response seemed focused on political theories instead of what the report said. A common theme among the people who criticized Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s COVID-19 response report Tuesday was that questions, especially

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Analysis

State estimates 1.75 million Floridians could lose Medicaid benefits once state begins purging rolls

By Christine Jordan Sexton, Florida Politics, January 19, 2023. As many as 1.75 million Floridians could lose Medicaid coverage once the state begins taking steps on April 1 to return its Medicaid program to pre-pandemic levels. Appearing before House and Senate health care panels, officials in the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida will focus its

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Analysis

Obamacare is everywhere in the unlikeliest of places: Miami

By Patricia Mazzei, The New York Times, Jan 11, 2023. MIAMI — Lídice Hernández opened an insurance agency last year on a busy street, affixing to the storefront a logo that has become deeply familiar in South Florida: a white sun rising over the red stripes of the American flag, all encased in a big, blue

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Health Care

Dear Legislators, please consider mental health needs in schools

The following speech was given to our FL Reps.  Michael Grant and Spencer Roach and FL Sen. Ben Albritton at the Charlotte County Legislative Delegation meeting in Punta Gorda on Jan 11, 2023. It was written by Charlotte County Democrats member, Maria Metge. Research has shown that exposure to trauma in childhood significantly impacts children

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Health Care

Harris to push abortion fight in Florida

Please join our Women’s March: Bigger than Roe, on Sunday, January 22nd  from 2 to 4 pm at Live Oak Point, 5100 Tamiami Trail  in Port Charlotte by the Peace River Bridge.  No walking is required — we will gather in the park and stand on the bridge with signs.  Please register HERE  to let

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Health Care

Why Republican politicians still hate Medicare

By Paul Krugman, Opinion Columnist, New York Times, Jan 12, 2023. The Republicans who now control the House will soon try to slash Social Security and Medicare. They plan to achieve this by holding the economy hostage, threatening to create a financial crisis by refusing to raise the federal debt ceiling. The interesting questions are why

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Health Care

What happens to low-income families when federal COVID Medicaid requirement ends?

‘We are in worse shape than most of the country’ By ISSAC MORGAN , Florida Phoenix, Jan 11, 2023. Health advocates in Florida are warning that millions of low-income residents could soon lose Medicaid health coverage, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. The federal government has been requiring states to provide continuous Medicaid coverage for children and

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Health Care

Charlotte County OKs mobile medical unit funding

By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH,  The Daily Sun, Dec 30, 2022. MURDOCK — With approval from Charlotte County, the Virginia B. Andes Volunteer Community Clinic will buy a mobile medical unit to help underserved areas of the community. The nonprofit recently asked the Charlotte County Board of Commissioners for $750,000 to purchase a 33-foot mobile medical unit. The

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Health Care

Vaccines save lives. DeSantis threatens that progress.

By the Washington Post Editorial Board, Dec 18, 2022. Vaccines saved millions of lives in the pandemic, and the mRNA technology was rolled out in record time. It counts as a massive success and might help fight other diseases, too. Nonetheless, populist Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week demanded a grand jury investigate “criminal or wrongful activity in Florida”

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Health Care

DeSantis calls for grand jury to investigate Covid-19 vaccines

By AREK SARKISSIAN Florida Politico, Dec.13, 2022. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday asked the Florida Supreme Court to empanel a grand jury to investigate “wrongdoing” linked to the Covid-19 vaccines, including spreading false and misleading claims about the efficacy of the doses. Most of the medical community, including the Centers for Disease Control

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Health Care

Gov. DeSantis is coming for your freedom

The following OpEd was published in the Daily Sun on August 26, 2022. By Teresa Jenkins Since 1971, August 26 has been recognized as Women’s Equality Day, when we celebrate a woman’s right to vote — when women emerged from their status as second-class citizens. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, is tirelessly working to shove

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Analysis

Roe Vs. Wade overturned: what it means for all of us

On June 24th, the Supreme Court expressly took away a constitutional right from the American people. New extreme state laws jeopardize the health of millions of women without exceptions for rape or incest and threaten to jail women who seek care. Personal medical decisions should be up to women and their doctors – not politicians.

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Health Care

Professionals as targets in the culture wars

[Editor note: This article is relevant to Florida’s “Don’t say gay” law.] By Scott E. Hadland, M.D., M.P.H. When Mx. E. told me, “It’s hard being an LGBTQ professional in America right now,” I knew what they meant. A 26-year-old who identifies as gender nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, Mx. E. is a patient in

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