Florida Department of Health Celeste Philip dismissed Thursday one of the complaints surrounding Northside Hospital’s application to open a level II trauma center, but there’s still no decision on a challenge the hospital made after its application was rejected.
Medical marijuana advocate John Morgan says cannabis smoking doesn’t “impair lung function” and even “increase(s) lung capacity,” as part of his lawsuit to be filed against the state Thursday. Florida Politics on Wednesday night acquired a copy of the 15-page complaint that Morgan says he will file in Leon Circuit Civil court in Tallahassee—against which a leading House Republican has already said the state will prevail. Morgan, the main backer of the marijuana amendment that passed last year, has said he would sue because…
Seven babies have been born in Florida with birth defects linked to the Zika virus. The Orlando Sentinel reports that State Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip told Orlando-area officials Tuesday that seven babies with Zika-related neurological conditions have been born in Florida since June 2016. Philip did not say where the babies lived or whether their mothers contracted Zika in Florida or while traveling. She said the state hired additional staff to help their families navigate their health care options.…
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip and Gov. Rick Scott told a roundtable of Orange County public health officials in Orlando Tuesday that Zika preparedness is up and incidents and rain down this year, but the risk of another major disease outbreak remains significant and no one should abandon precautions. Florida has seen 50 confirmed case of Zika infection so far in 2017, all from overseas transmissions, and less than half of what was seen by this time in 2016. The…
On Friday, the scheduled last day of the 2017 legislative session, the Florida Senate confirmed Gov. Rick Scott‘s picks to run the state’s health care agencies. The Senate approved Justin Senior to head the Agency for Health Care Administration and Celeste Philip to lead the Department of Health as Florida’s Surgeon General. The Florida Medical Association issued a statement Friday applauding the selections. “The Florida Medical Association is committed to ensuring every Floridian receives the best medical care possible, which…
Rick Scott is declaring a public health emergency across Florida due to the epidemic of heroin and other opioids abuse, addiction, and overdose deaths wracking the Sunshine State. While the governor signed an executive order Wednesday following action by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which declared a national opioid epidemic, it comes months after Democrats and a few others around the state urged him to declare an emergency. Scott’s order will allow state officials to immediately draw down on…
This afternoon, The Rick Scott and Pam Bondi Opioid Listening Tour opens in West Palm Beach. Scott and Bondi won’t be there, but People with Big Titles and No Power will. Scott, who used to run hospitals for a living, thinks that mosquitoes carrying Zika are a public health emergency, even as Floridians and medical tourists who VISIT Florida’s criminal enterprises masquerading as “sober homes” are dropping like flies. When Scott and Bondi’s designated listeners roll into town, they’ll be…