Medical images and health data belonging to millions of Americans, including X-rays, MRIs and CT scans, are sitting unprotected on the internet and available to anyone with basic computer expertise. The records cover more than 5 million patients in the U.S. and millions more around the world.
Health & Society
UNF Pitches Medical Hub in Palm Coast’s Town Center in Major Partnership With City, Schools and AdventHealth
The University of North Florida is submitting a $23 million request to the State Board of Governors that includes Palm Coast’s Town Center as a hub of an innovative concept of medical higher education that ties directly to medical-sector jobs in Northeast Florida, a concept UNF calls MedNex.
A Black Senator Feels Bamboozled By All-White Panel Discussing Racism and White Nationalism
Senate Minority Leader Audrey Gibson said blacks and Hispanics, the targets of racism, were not represented by a panel of experts who appeared before a Senate committee exploring issues related to mass violence and white nationalism.
Flagler Health Officials Target Hot Spots to Protect Against 363% Statewide Increase in Hepatitis A
Flagler County Health Department officials are visiting the county jail, drug programs and homeless ministries to administer vaccines in attempts to limit the hepatitis A outbreak concentrated in central and south-central Florida.
A 14-Year-Old Girl at Buddy Taylor Middle Is Hospitalized After an Apparent Overdose
A 14-year-old student at Buddy Taylor Middle School was hospitalized Friday morning after showing signs of a drug overdose and claiming she’d ingested 10 pills.
Despite Repeated Calls For Unity, Democrats Throw Debate Punches On Health Plans
Unity was in the air on Thursday, as a trimmed-down cast of 10 Democratic presidential candidates met on the debate stage again and nodded to the stakes: the possibility of another four years of President Donald Trump.
Contributions Are Pouring In For Assault Weapons Ban Aiming for 2020 Ballot
Ban Assault Weapons NOW, the political committee behind the proposed constitutional amendment, drew more than 28,000 contributions totaling $595,000 in August, by far the largest amount in a single month since the committee was launched in March 2018.
Palm Coast and Flagler Rally For the Bahamas, With Caution To Ensure Efforts Aren’t Wasted
Palm Coast businesses and individuals such as Shane Bonner are leading herculean efforts to help hurricane-shattered Bahamas. The Red Cross’s Rebecca DeLorenzo cautions against uncoordinated efforts that could lead supplies never delivered to their intended recipients.
Vaping-Related Illnesses and Deaths Rise, as Do Calls for More Stringent Regulations
E-cigarettes devices heat liquid into an aerosol that is inhaled into the lungs. The liquid can contain nicotine, flavorings and other ingredients. The liquid can also include marijuana.
In Wake of Measles Outbreak, A State Ends Religious Exemption for Vaccinations
New York has eliminated religious exemptions by law. Florida is a religious-exemption state, as well as a medical-exemption state. and Flagler County in 2017 had the second-highest proportion of kindergarten students in the state with an exemption, most of them for religious reasons.
What America Could Learn From Canada
Better health care, longer lives, a better standard of living, more overall well-being: Canada is becoming a model for what Americans aspired to but keep seeing eroded in their own lives.
St. Augustine’s Flagler Hospital Planning Medical Inroad in AdventHealth’s Palm Coast Backyard, on Matanzas Woods Parkway
Flagler Hospital–now Flagler Health Plus–has a contract to buy 4 acres on Matanzas Woods Parkway, where it would build a small medical-village type development, down the road from AdventHealth’s planned stand-alone emergency room.
72 Nursing Homes and Assisted Living facilities Evacuated Ahead of Storm Along East Coast
Palm Coast’s Grand Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center off Palm Coast Parkway and Tuscan Gardens of Palm Coast on Colbert Lane are among those evacuated.
Hurricane Dorian: Fuel, Telecommunications and Other Emergency Measures In Place
Comprehensive outline of measures in place or readied for deployment across Florida in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, according to state emergency officials and the governor’s office.
Hurricane Dorian, Day By Day
Hurricane Dorian: an archival record of the storm’s path day by day as it impacted Flagler County and Palm Coast, with sequenced National Hurricane Center maps of the cone of uncertainty.
Appeals Judges Punt on State Medical Pot Controls and Ask Florida Supreme Court to Decide
The 1st District Court of Appeal asked the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether the state’s “vertical integration” system of requiring licensed operators to grow, process and distribute cannabis and derivative products runs afoul of a constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida.
See Something, Say Something? 3 Flagler School Board Members Say Not If It’s Cancer.
Opposition to the Flagler Health Department’s proposal to offer the HPV vaccine in schools is driven by three board members echoing the rhetoric of vaccine denialism though various irrational pretexts.
Flagler Health Department Chief Calls School Board Member ‘Anti-Science’ in Vaccine Clash
Flagler Health Department Administrator Robert Snyder in a live show on WNZF today accused School Board member Maria Barbosa of being “anti-science” and “anti-vaccines,” in a discussion on making the HPV vaccine available to students in schools.
Opioid-Related Deaths Decline By 34% in Flagler’s 3-County District in 1st Part of 2018
The decline is far more pronounced in the Flagler region than in the state, strongly suggesting that the introduction of front-line life-saving measures, combined with stricter state rules on prescription drugs, is having an effect.
Divided School Board Stops Short of Killing Voluntary HPV Vaccine to 6th Graders
The Flagler Health Department wants to offer free, voluntary HPV vaccines to 6th graders in Flagler schools, but three school board members are unwilling to agree without first seeing whether enough parents want the offer.
HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Vaccine: What You Need to Know
The complete Centers for Disease Control’s Vaccine Information Statement regarding the HPV vaccine to prevent infection with human papillomavirus.
House Democrats Seek Special Session On Gun Violence, But GOP Set to Quash It
House Democrats on Tuesday said they’ve submitted letters from 41 representatives, more than the required 20 percent of the chamber’s 120 members, to demand that Secretary of State Laurel Lee poll all 160 legislators on the request for the special session.
A Fence Goes Up at Palm Coast’s Dog Park as Owners Take Sides On Caution Over Danger of Algae
A temporary fence has reduced Palm Coast’s dog park at Holland Park to a quarter its size as city officials test a retention pond for dangerous blue-green algae that could be toxic to dogs, though no such cases have been reported locally.
Among Hurdles For Those With Opioid Addictions: Getting The Drug To Treat It
Among the barriers to buprenorphine access: too few medical providers are certified to write the prescriptions. But pharmacists are also a part of the problem. Because they fill the prescriptions, pharmacists are the gatekeepers for the drug, and not all of them are willing to take on that role.
Stop Criminalizing Children in the Name of School Security
The rash of zero-tolerance felony arrests of children that the Flagler school district experienced last year unjustly makes examples of adolescents in the name of a security establishment focusing on the wrong threats across the state.
Where Doctors Can Recommend Marijuana to Replace Opioids
Four states, not including Florida, allow people with an opioid addiction to qualify for a medical marijuana card. Many physicians say it’s a bad idea, with marijuana unproven either to manage pain or kick an opioid addiction.
Lead in Water at ‘Maybe Double’ Allowable Rate Detected at Wadsworth and Bunnell Elementaries
Lead levels at twice the allowable rate were detected in two water fountains tested earlier this month and again at the beginning of the week at Wadsworth Elementary and Bunnell Elementary.
Ex-Dr. Fruehan Set to Plea to Felony Count in Patient-Groping Cases and Face 2 Years Probation
Florence Fruehan, the former Palm Coast physician, is set to plea to a felony count of battery on a woman 65 or older at a court hearing Friday, the result of allegations that he sexually groped patients in his office.
Joe Mullins Steps Back From Harsher Homeless and Panhandling Rules After Hearing St. Augustine’s Rigid Approach
Flagler’s Public Safety Council heard how the homeless and panhandlers have been largely (but not completely) criminalized in St. Augustine, but were not eager to replicate the approach in Flagler.
Heat Index of Up to 110 Prompts Advisories–and AC Policy Change on Flagler School Buses
With heat indexes routinely reaching past 100 and reaching 110 on occasion, emergency management is cautioning against heat exhaustion and the Flagler school district is relaxing AC and water rules on school buses.
Complaints of Poor Cell Reception in Palm Coast Shift to Complaints About New Towers’ Health Risks, But on Slim Evidence
Palm Coast residents addressed the city council today regarding the new cell towers going up in the city, claiming they pose a cancer risk. But evidence that they do, while not zero, is scant.
Of Course Guns Have Nothing To Do With It
Mountains of evidence link America’s mass killings to the massive amount of guns in circulation, but let’s go ahead and pretend that guns have nothing to do with it, nor the absence of sensible gun control.
Candlelight Vigil at Flagler Beach’s Veterans Park on Aug. 31 to Mark Overdose Awareness Day
Open Door Recovery and Re-entry Ministries hosts a candlelight vigil in memory of victims of the opioid crisis on August 31 at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Flagler Beach, starting at 7 p.m.
Signs of the Times: Flagler Sheriff’s New Recruits and School Deputies Train to Take Down Mass Shooter
Twenty-six Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies, including all of its school resource deputies, trained through a mass-shooter scenario Thursday afternoon at a Korona church, part of what’s now standard training at the agency.
For Parents’ Peace of Mind, It’s Time for Video and Audio Monitoring of Flagler’s Special Education Classrooms
An incident at Belle Terre Elementary School last school-year illustrates the need for more objective, independent oversight of what goes on in special education classrooms, where students may not have a voice of their own.
Deriding Focus on Trump Rhetoric, DeSantis Blames Mass Shootings on ‘Recesses of the Internet’
Trump is facing accusations that his immigration rhetoric inspired a man who posted warnings online of a “Hispanic invasion” before killing 22 people at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart on Saturday.
Florida Senate Will Study White Nationalism and Other Factors in Mass Violence
In the run-up to the 2020 legislative session, the Florida Senate will review acts of mass violence such as the deadly shootings this weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, along with factors such as white nationalism.
I’d Like to Stop Writing About Innocents Killed by Guns
So far, as hard as we try, every time it happens again we apparently have not stood up in sufficient numbers or shouted loud enough to make the massacres stop. What does it take? The story keeps repeating.
That “Natural” Dr. Seltzer Pill for Erectile Dysfunction? FDLE Warns It’s Illegal and Dangerous
The pills are believed to have been sold on eBay and in retail stores in St. John’s County. The pills sell for $10.99 each, and agents seized more than $800,000 worth of the pills.
Lethal Crisis: When Seniors Turn To Suicide
As suicide rates continue to climb, claiming more than 47,000 lives in 2017, a six-month investigation finds that older Americans are quietly killing themselves in nursing homes, assisted living centers and adult care homes.
The Lose-Lose of Trump’s Proposal to Cut 3 Million People Off Food Stamps
The Trump administration’s move to cut low-income people who are eligible for food stamps and school lunch off of those programs isn’t just immoral, it’s short-sighted, argues Jill Richardson.
Abortion Waiting Period Back in Play as Florida Appeal Court Overturns Lower-Court Decision
The 24-hour waiting period case could eventually become a key test for the Florida Supreme Court, which has historically backed abortion rights but is now dominated by conservative justices.
No Medicare For All, But Biden’s ‘Incremental’ Health Plan Still Would Be A Heavy Lift
The former vice president has specifically repudiated many of his Democratic rivals’ calls for a “Medicare for All” system and instead sought to build his plan on the ACA’s framework.
Three University Students Pose With Guns In Front of Shot-Up Emmett Till Memorial
Three students were suspended from their fraternity house, Kappa Alpha, after we shared an Instagram photo one of the men posted that was taken in front of a sign commemorating the murder of the 14-year-old black youth in 1955.
Siding With Local Governments, Judge Strikes Law Penalizing Officials Who Pass Gun Rules Stricter Than State’s
In 2011, Florida lawmakers approved a series of penalties that local governments and officials could face if they violated the prohibition on gun laws that are stricter than the state’s.
Florida’s Hemp Industry Is Born Again As Perception of CBD as Cure-All Turns Manic
The nationwide craze for products containing CBD is evident at supermarkets, gas stations and big-box stores, where lotions, tinctures and bath “bombs” are among the items flying off the shelves as consumers seek to quell anxiety, aches and pains and a host of other ailments.
Flagler Health Department Expands Hepatitis Clinic, Marking Hepatitis Day 2019
The Flagler Health Department in Bunnell has renewed its commitment to diagnosing and treating Hepatitis after receiving grant for Hepatitis C treatment and clinic expansion.
Coming Out in Rural America
“I came out to my parents via email the same week I figured it out myself because it’s no big deal in our family. Others aren’t as lucky; some people’s families still disown them.”
Flagler Beach Police Chief Doughney: “I Don’t See Panhandling as a Problem In the City”
Flagler Beach Commissioner Eric Cooley pushed for an ordinance targeting “aggressive panhandling” in the city, but the Police Chief Matt Doughney rejected the premise that there was such an issue in Flagler Beach, and got the proposal tabled pending his revisions.
Florida Population Growing by 900 a Day, Equivalent to a City the Size of Orlando Every Year
In Flagler, the population is projected at 112,000 in 2020, rising to 124,000 in 2025, then 134,000 in 2030, and 152,000 by 2040. The figures are significantly lower than those the bureau projected right after the Great Recession.