After a 67-year gap, Florida may be about to legalize naturopathic medicine
For its devotees, naturopathy is an alternative approach to health that focuses on the whole body through adjustments to lifestyle, diet and exercise. That could include acupuncture, herbal remedies, vitamin supplements, medicinal mushrooms and so-called lifestyle medicine, where patients are advised to adopt changes in nutrition, environment and sleep patterns. Other treatments touted by naturopaths are more unconventional, like using sound vibrations to manage pain. It’s an approach that critics describe as a potentially dangerous pseudoscience. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Legislature discusses, but shoots down, Medicaid expansion
The Florida Senate Friday voted down an effort to prod the state into finally expanding Medicaid to low-income, childless adults, as allowable under the Affordable Care Act. The Senate once embraced the concept of expanding the safety net health care program to cover low-income workers but that effort — which occurred in 2015, when Rick Scott was governor — ultimately came up short. And so did Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman’s efforts on Friday to amend SB 1758, sponsored by powerful Republican Sen. Don Gaetz. [Source: Florida Phoenix]
Florida surgeon general wants to abolish school vaccine mandates. Lawmakers aren’t on board
Though Florida’s top medical official proclaimed last fall that the state would end all vaccine mandates for school children, six months later the Florida Legislature looks unlikely to take the drastic, first-in-the-nation action. Some lawmakers proposed bills this year that would tweak current vaccine laws, but their legislation wouldn’t change the shots children need to enroll in school. Nor does even that adjustment seem likely to pass the full Legislature. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Florida’s measles cases continue to rise
Measles cases continue to increase in Florida. As public health experts work to investigate the already reported infections, the virus continues to spread throughout the state. “The problem here is that if you're unvaccinated, your chances of getting infected are just going up and up and up year over year as we go into this new world of dealing with measles, again,” said Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist at the University of Central Florida. Florida’s vaccination rate for the measles remains below the recommended threshold of 95%. [Source: Central Florida Public Media]
Nearly a year after Florida's fluoride ban, where do its cities stand?
Florida has become the second state to ban the addition of fluoride to public drinking water, following a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. U.S. Congresswoman Lois Frankel is pushing back with a resolution highlighting the CDC's view of water fluoridation as a major public health achievement. Supporters of the ban view fluoridation as forced medication, while opponents cite scientific consensus on its safety and effectiveness in preventing tooth decay. [Source: Palm Beach Post]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Broward children lack hospital choices. Parents want state to force Florida Blue to negotiate
Broward County parents are reaching out to insurance regulators and Florida legislators, trying to force the state to intervene in the contract dispute between the public hospital systems and insurer Florida Blue. Florida Blue policyholders lost coverage at Broward Health on July 1 and at Memorial on Sept. 1. Both operate under the same CEO and much of the same executive team. About 60,000 Florida Blue/Blue Cross Blue Shield policyholders are affected.
› Jacksonville University plans to bring Healthcare Simulation Center back to campus
Jacksonville University is bringing its Healthcare Simulation Center back to the Arlington campus after more than six years in a former shopping plaza at Beach and University boulevards. The city is reviewing a permit application for JU to spend an estimated $3.7 million to build-out the third floor of its College of Healthcare Sciences building. PQH Group Design Inc., of Jacksonville, is the architect.
› Orlando VA Health Care System implements AI technology to enhance veteran care
The Orlando VA Health Care System implemented AI technology, Ambient Scribe, to enhance Veteran care. The Orlando VA Health Care System (OVAHCS) is introducing Ambient Scribe technology during select Veterans’ health care appointments, a new tool designed to support clinicians, improve documentation accuracy, and allow providers to focus more fully on Veterans during visits.
› $10M gift to Tampa General funds immunotherapy lab, supports new tower
A $10 million gift from Tampa businessman Ian MacKechnie and his wife, Jean MacKechnie, will fund a new cancer immunotherapy research lab and support construction of a major clinical tower at Tampa General Hospital. The donation, announced by the Tampa General Hospital Foundation, will establish the Ian & Jean MacKechnie Immunotherapy Lab within the TGH Cancer Institute. Part of the funding will also support the Taneja Surgical, Neuroscience & Transplant Tower, now under construction beside Tampa General’s academic medical center on Davis Islands.