Florida Reconfirms Surgeon General Despite Worries On Scientific Integrity

Florida Phoenix: Florida Senate Confirms Surgeon General, But Every Democrat Voted Against The Doctor
The GOP-controlled Florida Senate on Thursday confirmed Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo for another term as the state’s top doctor, though all Democrats in the Senate voted against Ladapo. State Sen. Tina Polsky, of South Florida, pleaded to her colleagues to oppose the confirmation because of serious concerns about Ladapo’s “scientific integrity.” But the confirmation went through with a party-line vote of 27-12.“This isn’t about how you feel about COVID,” she told colleagues on Thursday before the confirmation vote. “This isn’t about how you feel about masks. This isn’t about how you feel about me. This isn’t about how you feel about the vaccines, the COVID vaccine or any other vaccines. This is about how you feel about scientific integrity and what the role is of a top doctor of our state.” (Perry, 5/4)

Miami Herald: Anti-Vaccine Florida Surgeon General Confirmed For Second Term. Concerns About What’s Next 
Fear is one word often cited by patients, doctors, public health experts, vaccine advocates and abortion providers when asked about the prospects of the second term of Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who was hand-picked by DeSantis 19 months ago during a coronavirus pandemic wave and reconfirmed Thursday by the state Senate in a 27-12 vote along party lines. Yet Ladapo’s mantra is “freedom from fear in the free state of Florida.” His memoir, “Transcend Fear,” is endorsed by anti-vaccination activists Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Simone Gold. In it he writes about an abusive childhood and how he and his wife’s profound experiences with healers just before the pandemic — she was also abused as a child — shaped his anti-mainstream views on COVID and health issues. (Robertson, 5/5)

More news from Florida —

Health News Florida: Bill To Address 'Period Poverty' In Schools Advances In Florida House And Senate
Florida lawmakers in both chambers on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal to ensure the availability of menstrual hygiene products for students in public schools. The bill (CS/HB 389) calls for tampons and sanitary napkins to be available for students at no charge. The products can be available in the school nurse's office, other health offices and restrooms, including wheelchair accessible restrooms. (Mayer, 5/5)

In other news from across the U.S. —

Minnesota Public Radio: Paid Family Leave, ‘Last Chance’ At Bonding Bill In Senate Today
The Minnesota Senate on Monday is set to debate a proposal to create a statewide paid family and medical leave program and another proposal to spend $1.9 billion for capital projects could take key steps forward there – or pave the way for a more partisan path this year. With just two weeks left to wrap up their business, lawmakers will work around the clock this week to finish massive budget bills. (Ferguson, 5/8)

Houston Chronicle: Texas House Democrats Again Delay Bill Banning Gender-Affirming Care
Texas House Democrats on Friday for a second time successfully delayed debate on a bill that would prohibit transgender minors from accessing transition care. The Democrats used a procedural tactic to force Republicans to send the bill back to committee and tweak the text of a bill analysis. On Tuesday, Democrats did the same thing, pushing back debate by two days. (Goldenstein, 5/5)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Recent Death Renews Concerns About Conditions At NH Secure Psychiatric Unit: 'This Is A Prison. This Is Not A Hospital.' 
Officials have shared little about what happened leading up to Jason Rothe’s death at New Hampshire’s Secure Psychiatric Unit on April 29, except that he died after a “physical altercation” with six correctional officers, who remain on leave pending further investigation. Rothe is one of at least three people who have died at a Department of Corrections psychiatric facility in the last decade. And for some advocates, the latest incident has underscored their longstanding concerns about how the state is caring for these high-risk patients. (Cuno-Booth, 5/7)

Wyoming Public Radio: 'Let's Do This:' Efforts To House People With Disabilities Gain Steam In Teton County
The sounds of TV, squeaky toys and other loud noises filled the Bartz residence on a weekday morning. “A lot of moving parts — always a lot going on around here,” said Cindy Bartz. She’s the mother of Jas Bartz, a 21-year-old with intellectual disabilities. Sitting on a beanbag in his bedroom, surrounded by stuffed animals, Jas has fragile X syndrome – what Cindy describes as a mix of autism and cognitive impairment. (Merzbach, 5/5)

Los Angeles Times: Is California Giving Slavery Reparations? What You Need To Know
California’s Reparations Task Force voted on Saturday to recommend that the state issue a formal apology for slavery and potentially provide billions of dollars in cash payments, moving forward a historic effort to enact remedies and compensation for descendants of African Americans who were enslaved in the U.S. The vote at a public meeting in Oakland marks the beginning of the end of the nine-member panel’s two-year process to craft a report recommending reparations for slavery, which is due to the state Legislature by July 1. (Luna, 5/6)

KFF Health News: Medi-Cal Enrollees In California: Here’s How To Verify Your Eligibility
If you are enrolled in Medi-Cal, as more than one-third of Californians are, make sure your county knows how to reach you, or you could lose your health coverage unnecessarily. You will likely hear and see public messages over the coming weeks urging you to update your contact information. Heed them. Then, sometime between now and next spring, you’ll probably receive mail from the agency that administers Medi-Cal in your county telling you if you are still eligible for the safety-net health insurance program or asking for more information about your employment status, income, and household size. An information request would likely come in a bright-yellow envelope containing a roughly 20-page form about six weeks before the start of your renewal month. (Wolfson, 5/8)

In environmental health news —

AP: Elevated Cancer Rates Found Near Kansas Chemical Spill 
Kansas health officials have identified elevated levels of liver cancer among people living in several historically Black neighborhoods in Wichita where groundwater was polluted by a rail yard chemical spill. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment released a study Friday that found a liver and biliary tract cancer diagnosis rate of 15.7 per 100,000 people in the contamination zone, which was more than double the statewide rate of 6.4 per 100,000, The Wichita Eagle reports. (5/6)

Chicago Tribune: An Illinois Law Required Schools To Test Water For Lead. They Found It All Over The State. 
Most Illinois public school districts that tested sinks and fountains for tiny traces of brain-damaging lead as required by a 2017 state law had to tell parents they found the toxic metal quietly lurking in the children’s drinking water. According to a Tribune analysis of state data, more than 1,800 of the roughly 2,100 public schools that submitted test results identified some amount of lead in their drinking water. That includes more than 1,350 schools where at least one water sample had lead levels exceeding 5 parts per billion, the threshold where parental notification is required. (Hoerner, 5/7)