The last time a permanent national policy was passed to address the need for family and medical leave was 28 years ago. In 1993, Congress passed the Family Medical Leave Act, which provided some private sector employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the arrival of a child, time off for one’s…
Health
Huntington Herald-Dispatch - A retired high-ranking official for the Drug Enforcement Administration testified in Charleston on Monday that distributors accused of fueling the region’s opioid crisis were on alert they needed to rein in their distribution practices as early as 2005. Read the full article. The distributors responded by bombarding the DEA with reports of…
Beckley Register-Herald - As if our politicians and favorite baseball teams don’t give us enough to worry about, the pandemic lingers. Well, not everyone worries and some have been out and about through it all without a mask or a care in the world. And some worry more than they should and remain in isolation…
WSAZ News Channel 3 - WVCBP policy outreach director Seth DiStefano discusses the efforts of the Food for All coalition and how it works to combat hunger and poverty in West Virginia. Watch the full interview here.
Martinsburg Journal-News - It seems that just about everyone has been impacted by someone battling substance abuse or addiction. Although treatment options exist, limited resources make access challenging, and few treatment facilities seem to assert continued success. Read the full article. However, it appears that West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle has been fortunate in welcoming the…
WSWS - West Virginia, the national epicenter of the opioid crisis for the past decade, saw its fatal overdose rate spike by at least 45 percent in 2020 according to data from the state Office of the Chief Medical Officer. The increase is a reversal of two years of declining drug deaths and marks a…
West Virginia MetroNews - West Virginia’s senators are assessing the price tag and policies of the “American Families Plan” introduced by President Joe Biden last week. Read the full article. Biden introduced the $1.8 trillion education and social safety net plan in a joint address to Congress last week by saying, “we also need to make a…
Huntington Herald-Dispatch - Cabell County and the city of Huntington are set to go to trial Monday against drug distributors they accuse of helping to fuel the area’s drug epidemic. Read the full article. At stake is up to $500 million or $1.25 billion to help local communities deal with the damages from the opioid…
Hep Mag - The federal government has awarded West Virginia about $393,000 for viral hepatitis surveillance, according to an announcement from the state’s U.S. senators, Republican Shelly More Capito and Democrat Joe Manchin. Of that funding, $78,659 has been set aside to explore how the opioid epidemic affects rates of infectious diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS. Read the full article.…
Amid a public health emergency, the 2021 state legislative session presented a unique opportunity to improve health and wellness outcomes across West Virginia. This year, delegates and senators introduced several bills related to health care and the social safety net that will impact families across the state, especially those with lower incomes. While some bills…