With a startling personal revelation of her own, Milissa Holland argues in her latest column that if mental illness is to be a focus of gun control, it must be much better defined–and far more de-stigmatized. Otherwise, it’s a shield behind which politicians will do nothing.
Health & Society
An Epidemic of American Anger In Search of Stoicism
From Angry Birds to the Angry Whopper, road rage and mass murderers, we’re in an age of anger that appears driven by frustrated expectations and imagined grievances.
After Abuse at Girls’ Lock-Up, Promises of More Oversight from Florida’s Juvenile Justice
In the wake of allegations of abuse by staffers at a girls’ lockup in Milton, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice is tightening its oversight of private residential facilities – adding interviews with youths and a partnership with the non-profit Annie E. Casey Foundation to its monitoring procedures.
Bill Filed to Repeal Florida Prohibition On Doctors Asking Patients About Guns
Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, filed the measure (SB 314) to repeal the 2011 “Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act,” which isn’t currently being enforced because a federal judge threw it out in July. The state, however, is appealing that ruling.
How the Word ‘Retarded’ Hurts The Developmentally Disabled
Americans with developmental disabilities still remain second-class citizens in the eyes of the law and our fellow human beings. There is no greater symbolic gesture of the ridicule they endure than the accepted use of the word “retarded” in day-to-day speech.
State Health Agency Corrects Inflated Costs of Obamacare Scott Had Used to Oppose Reform
Florida’s costs could be as low as $3 billion over 10 years — a huge drop from the nearly $26 billion figure that AHCA produced in a report last month. Even with the changes, it appears that the Scott administration believes that the state’s final tab over 10 years would be higher.
Family Life Center Golf Tournament Fund Raiser on Monday
The Family Life Center, a private, non-profit Flagler County organization dedicated to providing free services to families and victims of domestic violence, is hosting a golf tournament fund-raiser for men and women at Palm Coast’s Palm Harbor Golf Club on Monday. Jan. 14.
Spying on Grandma: Health Companies Sell Surveillance as a Benefit and a Saving
Health care is joining a national trend toward greater surveillance of everyday life. Whether this costly technology will ultimately prove clinically or economically effective remains uncertain. So, too, is whether a benign health care purpose can help overcome the unsettling “Big Brother” overtones.
One-Fifth of Florida’s Nursing Homes Are On the State’s Watch List for Violations
Twelve of the homes have been on the the state Agency for Health Care Administration’s watch list for more than 100 days. The best way to pick a home for a loved one is to simply visit it, or to check a nursing home inspection database (link included).
Quality Concerns as Florida Medicaid Moves Millions of Poor and Elderly to Managed Care
Senior said much of the state’s negotiations with federal officials have focused on safeguards to make sure that Medicaid’s new Florida version would be based on providing services in people’s homes and communities and would not be a “nursing home light” system..
Fiscal Deal Delays Big Cuts in Food Stamps For Florida’s Poor, and Farm Reform
The nine-month extension would ignore comprehensive packages by the agriculture committees of both chambers, including provisions for dairy industry reform, disaster relief and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
For Needy Children’s Christmas, Flagler Fire Fighters’ Union Answers the Call of the Year
Kyle Lockwood, a firefighter-paramedic with Flagler County Fire Rescue, organized a gift drive for 42 of the county’s neediest children and, with colleagues, delivered the gifts to children and their families Friday in the courthouse parking lot.
Time to Get Serious About
Mental Health in Florida
Florida ranks near dead last nationally in the level of expenditures for front-end community-based mental health services. Let’s not be penny wise and pound foolish when so many precious lives are at risk, argues Paula Dockery.
The Soft-Core Terrorism
Of Florida’s Gun Worship
Florida’s gun-worship is part of a lethal, juvenile romance for guns and a national disease that doesn’t hesitate to lock and load the words “gun” and “hobby” in the same chamber while vilifying those who’d imply a connection with the consequences.
How Legal Weed Might Wash in Florida
Full marijuana legalization is coming, eventually. But if you’re planning to go into the marijuana business, Bill Cotterell argues, you might want to ask Joe Camel what happens a few years down the road.
Obamacare or Bust: U.S. Tells Florida to Either Expand Medicaid or Lose Out on Billions
Under Obamacare the federal government would pay 100 percent of the cost of the expanded eligibility from 2014 through 2016. Florida and other states questioned whether the federal government also would cover the full costs for a partial Medicaid expansion. The Obama administration said no.
Kangaroo Express Donates $110,000 To Florida Hospital’s Breast Cancer Pink Army
Florida Hospital Flagler received approximately $37,000 of the sums raised ntirely by customers’ donations at the Kangaroo Express registers throughout October in several counties, with the balance going to other Florida Hospital campuses.
Tumor Gone, Staples Removed, Humor and Grit Intact: A Teacher Returns to Matanzas
On medical leave for cancer treatment since September, Jo Ann Nahirny describes in harrowing and moving detail her final medical hurdles and clearances before deciding to return to her classroom almost a month early, on Dec. 10.
Two Damaging Chases, 2 Arrests, Innumerable Charges. But Should She Be in Jail?
Deborah Brinkman, 60, took Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies on two car chases through Palm Coast in seven days, damaging three police cruisers, and was jailed again Monday on several charges, including battery on a cop, but her behavior raises questions about the county’s ability to respond beyond jail to individuals with mental health issues.
Children in Nursing Homes: Florida Rejects Court Oversight in Dispute With U.S. Justice
The Department of Justice in September threatened legal action over Florida’s violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by improperly placing disabled children in nursing homes and threatened legal action. Florida wants to resolve the dispute but opposes federal court oversight.
In Juvenile Detention for Girls, Health Care Is Shoddy, Absent or Geared Only to Boys
Incarcerated girls are “one of the most vulnerable and unfortunately invisible populations in the country,” and up to 90 percent have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, yet the health care provided to children, and girls in particular, in juvenile detention is often ill-equipped to deal with their complex health needs.
What’s In Your Gun Closet? In Florida, a Doctor’s Right to Ask Is Under Threat
Should doctors be able to ask patients or patients’ parents whether they own a gun? What about health insurers, employers or health-care officials implementing the federal health law? Can they ask about gun ownership? The issue is playing out in Florida, where lawmakers want to ban doctors from asking the questions.
Parental Notification: Court Reverses Florida Teen’s Abortion Disclosure Requirement
In a case that offers a glimpse of the complexity of Florida’s parental-notification of abortion law, a divided appeals court overruled a Polk County judge and said a 17-year-old girl could receive an abortion without her mother being told.
In a Shift, Gov. Scott Will Now Talk Health Care Reform, But With Reservations
Scott sent a conciliatory letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, but while seeking a meeting, Scott also expressed doubts about whether a key part of the Affordable Care Act would lower health costs.
Florida Republicans Begin to See Fewer Horns on Obamacare’s Evils
After more than two years of fighting the federal health overhaul, Florida Republican leaders say they need to prepare to carry out the law, while Gov. Rick Scott, in a sharp turnaround, said he wants to negotiate with federal authorities.
In a Far More Challenging Year, Feed Flagler Struggles to Meet Needs and Expectations
Despite much lower monetary and food donations than last year, Feed Flagler intends to serve nearly 4,000 free meals and distribute more than 500 boxes of free food at 12 locations across the county, as needs have intensified. The organization is still accepting donations.
Low Premiums, High Deductibles, Higher Risks: The Health Plan Gamble
The gamble of lower health premiums in exchange for higher deductibles is appealing, but people are losing the gamble and getting stuck with insurmountable expenses even as high-deductible plans are becoming more frequent by default.
Not Dead, Not Dying, and Still Shopping, But Humbled By Cancer’s Side-Effects
Almost two months into her cancer treatment, Jo Ann Nahirny–who faces surgery Tuesday–surveys the long list of side-effects, good and bad, that she’s endured, from crushing bills to the moving affection of students and friends, and am ever- loyal husband.
Pilates in the Park Raises Awareness and Money Locally
With more than 100 people in attendance, the third annual Pilates in the Park raised awareness and funds to help with screening mammograms, diagnostic studies and education.
Amendment 6: Narrowing Down Florida’s Abortion and Privacy Rights
Sandwiched within a long list of issues on a crowded ballot, Amendment 6 is emerging as a multi-million dollar fight touching abortion, parental rights and privacy protections now guaranteed in the Florida Constitution.
Save Your Teeth: Flagler Dentists Drill Halloween With $1-a-Pound Candy Buy-Back
Like the sheriff’s office’s gun buy-back and the DEA’s drug give-back, Flagler Dental, a group of dentists, is offering a $1-a-pound candy buy-back from Nov. 1 to Nov. 10 at its two locations, with the candy–or sugary drugs, if you prefer–being shipped off to troops overseas.
Amendment 1: Floridians Will Get Their Say on Obamacare, But Only Symbolically
Lawmakers have proposed a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would say Floridians can’t be forced to buy health coverage. At least in the short term, the measure would appear to have little effect, but House sponsor Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, pointed to what he sees as a “basic right” that Floridians should not be “fined, taxed or penalized for our health care choices.”
Seniors Are Overspending on Medicare’s Prescription Drug Plan
Seniors spent on average $368 more than they needed to on drug coverage through Medicare Part D plans, their decisions complicated by the sheer volume of plans available–1,736 in all–and difficulties involved in determining what makes a plan a good choice, a Health Affairs study finds.
A Teacher Down to Her Last Cells, a Cancer Patient Hands Her Case to UF’s Med Students
Always the teacher, cancer patient Jo Ann Nahirny–now with 26 of her 42 radiation sessions out of the way–takes satisfaction from knowing that even though she’s unable to stand in front of her students at Matanzas High School, she’s still doing my part as in educator as medical students learn from her case at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida.
For Florida Justices, Two Lesbian Mothers, One Child, and a Question of Parenthood
The case pits two former lesbian partners, one of whom provided an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other woman, who later gave birth. After the relationship ended, the woman who gave birth blocked her former partner from having parental rights.
From Tape-Downs to Lockdowns: A Day in the So-Called Life of a Cancer Patient
Three radiation treatments in and with 39 to go, Jo Ann Nahirny describes life at the curfew-happy Hope Lodge for cancer patients, her manhandling on the radiation table, and her husband’s angelic patience.
How Nursing Homes Get You: Signing Away Your Right to Sue
Signing arbitration agreements at nursing homes prevent families from suing the home should something go wrong. Agreeing to arbitrate is generally not in families’ best interests. It’s expensive, proceedings are secret, and nursing homes have the advantage.
In a Stab at Human Trafficking, Florida Suspends 81 Massage Licenses
The massage-therapist crackdown resulted from an investigation into human trafficking in Florida that revealed that some of the massage therapists paid up to $15,000 to get fraudulent transcripts and certificates to get their licenses.
At Matanzas High School, an Irrepressible Teacher’s Untimely Farewell, For Now
Jo Ann Nahirny, an English teacher at Matanzas, put in her last day of the year today before a three-month leave filled with radiation treatments and surgery as she battles a cancer’s recurrence. This is the story of her last day in class.
Memo to Lance Armstrong: Enough is Enough, So Please Shut Up
The gig is up now, Tom O’Hara, a testicular cancer survivor, tells Lance Armstrong, referring to his doping issues. If you want to continue to raise money to fight cancer, I applaud you. But, please, try being a quiet and humble philanthropist from now on.
DCF Defends Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients
The head of the state welfare agency is asking a court to throw out a challenge to the state law requiring drug testing of public assistance recipients, which could allow the program to restart.
Ripped from Her Trenches, a Teacher Mobilizes for Months of Cancer Combat, and Anguish
From feeling like a human easel to a convicted felon, Matanzas teacher Jo Ann Nahirny takes us step by step through the anguish of preparing for cancer treatment and its implications–physical, financial, emotional and spiritual.
In a Reversal, Florida Won’t End Benefits To Recipients With Underliverable Addresses
The Florida Department of Children and Families on Friday scrapped a controversial change that would have halted food stamps, Medicaid and welfare benefits for people whose mail is returned to the agency as undeliverable.
Russian Roulette With MSG
In today’s American restaurants, MSG has become so prevalent that it is in practically every kind of food. It’s no longer isolated to Chinese cuisine. And it can be very dangerous to eat, making eating out a gamble.
Feed Flagler Launches 4th Year as Big Cuts in Food Stamps Loom and Pantries Empty Out
Again led by County Commissioner Milissa Holland, Feed Flagler aims to exceed last year’s fund-raising of $28,000 and 60,000-pound food-drive by Thanksgiving, but federal legislation cutting food stamp benefits would prove a setback for Flagler’s efforts against hunger.
Finally for Flagler, a Visitation Safe Haven for Children and Victims of Domestic Violence
The Safe Haven Center for severed families needing a supervised, safe place for children’s visitations or exchanges, would spare families trip to Volusia or St. Johns–or meeting around the flagpole at the courthouse. The $400,000 federal grant was secured and executed by a group of local government and non-governmental leaders led by Judge Raul Zambrano, Commissioner Barbara Revels, and Abby Romaine, a candidate for the commission.
Florida DCF’s Answer to Welfare Recipients’ Unforwarded Addresses: Cut Off Benefits
The Florida Department of Children and Families has approved a change that would end public-assistance benefits for people who don’t report new addresses, drawing concerns that some low-income residents could unnecessarily lose food and medical aid.
Romney-Ryan’s Voucher Plan for Medicare, Long the Third Rail of Florida Politics
GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said the nation must rethink Medicare as he and Mitt Romney propose changing the health-insurance program for 65-and-over Americans to a “fixed-amount” voucher that would essentially privatize the benefit.
Almost 27% of Flagler Residents Under 65 Are Without Health Insurance; Reform Would Help
Obama’s health care reform would almost eliminate the proportion of uninsured, but Gov. Rick Scott’s refusal to join reform’s expanded Medicaid eligibility means that many of Flagler’s 16,774 eligible residents will be shut out of the benefit.
Calculating One’s Risk for Alzheimer’s: Most People Want To Know
Alzheimer’s disease can’t be prevented or cured, and it ranks second only to cancer among diseases that people fear. Yet about two-thirds of respondents would want to know if they were destined to get the disease.