Health

Indiana Governor Overrides Law to Authorize Needle Exchange

Published

9 years ago

March 26, 2015

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence responds to a question during a news conference Wednesday, March 25, 2015, in Scottsburg, Ind. Pence held a news conference after meeting with local officials in Scott County about an HIV outbreak. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

RICK CALLAHAN, Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence overrode state law and his own anti-drug policies Thursday to authorize a short-term needle-exchange program designed to help contain HIV infections in a rural county where more than six dozen cases have been reported, all of them tied to intravenous drug use.

Pence issued an executive order declaring a public health emergency in Scott County, an economically depressed area about 30 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, that has seen 79 new infections since December. The county typically sees only about five HIV cases each year, health officials said.

All of those infected either live in Scott County or have ties to the county, and all of the infections have been linked to needle sharing among drug users.

Most of the infections involve people who injected a liquefied form of the prescription painkiller Opana. Methamphetamine and heroin account for the remaining cases, health officials said.

Pence, a Republican, said officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who arrived in the county Monday said it would be “medically appropriate” to authorize some type of needle-exchange program to help stem the infections.

Such programs are illegal in Indiana, and Pence has opposed needle exchanges as part of drug-control efforts. But his order allows Scott County officials to request state approval for a limited, short-term program.

The governor said he was acting to halt the spread of the virus “despite my reservations” about providing clean needles to addicts.

Needle-exchange programs allow drug users to turn in used hypodermic needles in return for sterile ones in an effort to contain diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. HIV is spread mostly through sex.

Pence’s executive order will run for 30 days. After that period, he will consider whether to extend it for another 30 days.

Scott County’s cases have surged from 26 in late February to nearly 80, and that number is expected to rise. Officials are trying to contact as many as 100 people tied to those with confirmed infections of the virus that causes AIDS.

Pence’s order directs the state health department to set up a command center to coordinate HIV and substance-abuse treatment and establish a mobile unit to enroll people in a state-run health program to get HIV testing and treatment.

The state has also launched a public-awareness campaign focusing on drug treatment, infection prevention, safe sex, needle disposal and HIV testing and treatment.

“This is all hands on deck. This is a very serious situation,” Pence said.

After meeting with Pence, Scott County Sheriff Dan McClain said Wednesday that his county has been fighting prescription pills for years, and the infections tied largely to Opana are just the latest development in a long-running drug-abuse trend that has drained local resources.

“We have become the local rehab, mental health and treatment center, as well as the correction center here,” McClain said.

Don Des Jarlais, director of research for the chemical dependency institute at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York, said the places most vulnerable to infections include rural and suburban communities where a new group of drug users started with prescription painkillers and moved onto injecting heroin.

Without drug treatment or syringe-exchange programs, these areas “are ripe for outbreaks, and we should expect more of them unless we really ramp up our HIV-prevention services in those areas,” he said.

The county’s 79 HIV cases represent more than half of the 146 new HIV cases that have been confirmed statewide in Indiana since January, said Ken Severson, a spokesman for the Indiana State Department of Health. The recent surge in infections is the state’s largest-ever HIV outbreak.

Des Jarlais called on Pence to make the needle-exchange program permanent.

“The potential for continued transmission,” he said, “will be there for a decade or more” in southern Indiana.

___

AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson in Chicago contributed to this report.

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Related Topics:AIDS CDC HIV Indiana Indiana HIV mike pence needle exchange programs

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Calif. Dept. of Public Health: Got Milk Allergies? Don’t Eat Dave’s Bakery Cornbread

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning on Jan. 26, instructing consumers with milk allergies or “severe sensitivity to milk” in the state to not eat Dave’s Bakery Corn Bread due to “risk of illness.” The CDPH warns that consumption of the corn bread manufactured by a Gardena-based company — with expiration dates up to June 18, 2024 — may lead to “life threatening” reactions.

Published

6 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Dave's Bakery Corn Bread, 9 pack/net wt. 21 oz (595g) (Courtesy of CDPH)

By California Black Media

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning on Jan. 26, instructing consumers with milk allergies or “severe sensitivity to milk” in the state to not eat Dave’s Bakery Corn Bread due to “risk of illness.”

The CDPH warns that consumption of the corn bread manufactured by a Gardena-based company — with expiration dates up to June 18, 2024 — may lead to “life threatening” reactions.

“This warning applies only to the Corn Bread produced by Bake R Us, DBA Dave’s Baking Company and distributed to schools, retail facilities and in vending machines primarily in southern California,” the DCPH statement reads.

“This product should not be confused with other similarly named companies with national distribution,” it continues.

According to the CDPH, although the corn bread product contains whey, which is a milk allergen, there is no allergy warning label on the packaging, though it is required by state law.

So far, authorities say, no illnesses have been reported in the state, but if anyone finds the products on sale anywhere in the state, they should call the CDPH complaint hotline at (800) 495-3232 or file a report online at CDPH.ca.gov

The CDPH is also recommending that people who have eaten the product and are experiencing any reaction or ill effects should consult their health care provider.

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Bay Area

East Bay Regional Park District Issues Rattlesnake Advisory

The East Bay Regional Park District released an advisory today on rattlesnakes, which emerge from winter hibernation in early spring and become more active. Warm weather can bring more potential for rattlesnake encounters with humans and dogs, particularly along trails and roads.

Published

10 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

The Northern Pacific rattlesnake is the species found in East Bay Regional Parks. Courtesy photo.

The Richmond Standard

The East Bay Regional Park District released an advisory today on rattlesnakes, which emerge from winter hibernation in early spring and become more active.

Warm weather can bring more potential for rattlesnake encounters with humans and dogs, particularly along trails and roads.

Visitors are encouraged to avoid hiking alone in case of an emergency, to scan the ground ahead as they walk, jog or ride, stay on trails avoiding tall grass, and to look carefully around and under logs and rocks before sitting down. Keep your dog on your leash to be extra safe, park officials said.

If you encounter a rattlesnake, leave it alone – it is unlawful to capture or harm one. Move carefully and slowly away or around it and give it plenty of space, park officials said.

Those who are bitten by a rattlesnake are instructed to stay calm by lying down with the affected limb lower than the heart, then having someone call 911.

Getting medical attention is critical.

Those bitten should not use tourniquets, “sucking,” or snake bite kits. If you are by yourself, walk calmly to the nearest source of help to dial 911, do not run.

If bitten by any other type of snake, wash the wound with soap and water or an antiseptic and seek medical attention.

Not sure what bit you? Check the bite for two puncture marks (in rare cases one) associated with intense, burning pain, which is typical of a rattlesnake bite. Other snakebites can leave marks without associated burning pain.

The Northern Pacific rattlesnake is the species found in East Bay Regional Parks. Snakes are important to the natural environment, helping to control rodents and other reptile populations. But enjoy them from afar.

For more information, download the Park District’s Common Snakes brochure or watch our Gopher Snake or Rattlesnake video to learn how to tell the difference between rattlesnakes and gopher snakes. Additional information is available at ebparks.org/safety/wildlife-encounters.

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Alameda County

A Safe Place, Bay Area Domestic Violence Community Organization, Opens New Service Center in Oakland

Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence. The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.

Published

12 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Façade of the new community center for A Safe Place opening on May 10 in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Courtney Slocum Riley

Special to The Post

Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence.

The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.

Domestic violence occurrences and offenses account for a considerable amount of all violent crimes in Alameda County. A Safe Place is attempting to provide a safe place for families to heal. A Safe Place is the only comprehensive domestic violence assistance program including a safehouse, in Oakland.

The grand opening celebration will also serve as a fundraiser to build out healing, therapeutic spaces for children and adult victims and survivors and survivors of domestic violence (male and female).

The new service center will expand the work of the organization, founded in 1976 when a group of women working in San Francisco came together to address the urgent need for a shelter in the East Bay. A year later, they founded A Safe Place (ASP) in Oakland. Run solely by volunteers, they set up a crisis line to offer crisis counseling and information to battered women and their children.

The organization serves over 500 adults and children annually through a host of services including crisis counseling via 24-hour crisis line, emergency motel and safehouse sheltering, mental health services (counseling and support groups).

Under the leadership of Executive Director, Carolyn Russell, the organization has grown from a single program into the comprehensive domestic violence and assistance program. ASP strives to meet the growing and diverse needs of our growing community.

The organization hopes to complete all the upgrades and therapeutic room improvements by August 2024. The public is invited to donate to the effort by using the website at www.asafeplace.org/donate. The organization also accepts in-kind gifts as well as items from the organization’s Amazon Wishlist.