Princess Health and If legislature won't help protect Kentuckians from the health threat of tobacco, local governments should, Herald-Leader says. Princessiccia

Princess Health and If legislature won't help protect Kentuckians from the health threat of tobacco, local governments should, Herald-Leader says. Princessiccia

General Assembly health rankings legislature newspapers smoking smoking bans smoking ordinances tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 08:51 Add Comment

Since the Kentucky General Assembly "adjourned without tackling the addiction that kills the most Kentuckians, tobacco," local communities need to take up the challenge, the Lexington Herald-Leader said in an editorial Sunday.

To drive home the primary role that tobacco plays in Kentucky's poor health, the newspaper ran a map of the most recent County Health Rankings, showing that "the places where smoking rates are highest have the worst health outcomes."

The Democrat-controlled state House passed a statewide ban on smoking in workplaces last year, but the bill got nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate, and with new Republican Gov. Matt Bevin opposed to it and all House seats on the ballot this year, the bill didn't get a vote in the House.

Bevin has said smoking bans should be a local decision. The editorial says, "One of the cheapest, most effective ways to do that (since the legislature won�t) would be to join the places across Kentucky that have enacted local smoke-free laws." About one-third of Kentucky's population lives in jurisdictions with comprehensive smoking bans.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article72143017.html#storylink=cpyThe

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article72143017.html#storylink=cpy

Princess Health and Herald-Leader reporter wins Nieman fellowship to study at Harvard; her goal is to help other papers cover Obamacare.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Herald-Leader reporter wins Nieman fellowship to study at Harvard; her goal is to help other papers cover Obamacare.Princessiccia

awards health journalism journalism newspapers

Gusty 08:52 Add Comment

Photo by Pablo Alcala,
Lexington Herald-Leader

Mary Meehan, a reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader, has been selected for the 2016 class of Nieman fellows at Harvard University.
She is one of 24 journalists chosen for this prestigious honor and will begin her year of study at Harvard in September.

"I am going to Harvard to study for nine months. I hope to learn things I didn't know I yearn to learn, learn about healthcare and the massive social experiment underway." Meehan said in her shared blog, Menopausal Moms of Kentucky. "I also hope to learn something that can help in some small way to keep the newspaper industry upright."

Meehan has been with the Herald-Leader for 15 years, but began her career as a journalist 34 years ago as a columnist for The Voice of St. Mathews in Louisville at the age of 16. Before returning to Kentucky, she worked for the Tribune Newspapers in Phoenix, AZ, The Orlando Sentinel in Florida, and also as a freelance journalist in Florida.

She said that her "life changing" experience as a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Health Coverage Fellow last year is what prompted her to apply for the fellowship. She said she returned from the first fellowship energized to write about health, and has written "as many stories as I could" with information from that experience.

Still, she said, "I just came across stories that I couldn't get to, that were too complicated because I didn't have a good, deep foundation of health-care reform and the complex issues involving how people access health care, or what makes them seek it out even if they have insurance, and so that prompted me to file an application for the Nieman fellowship."

Meehan said that she made it clear on her application that she is not a full-time health journalist and that during any given week she has covered "a tractor parade, monster trucks and Salem the wonder cat." But she also said that while covering health, she has found that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has accountability measures that apply everywhere, but are "very difficult to digest on the fly."

Each Nieman fellow proposes a study project. Meehan plans to examine the impact of the law and barriers to sustained health improvement among the previously uninsured.

"My goal is to help mid-size and small papers cover the Affordable Care Act in a meaningful way," she said. "The other part is highlighting positive things that are happening in communities, with a critical eye. Looking at not only what works, but also the challenges."

Meehan said being selected for the top fellowship in journalism hasn't really "soaked in yet," but she anticipates, based on previous fellows' comments, that she will discover "something that is amazing" that can't be predicted yet.

She said she is looking forward to working with the other fellows, half of whom will come from all over the world, and going back to college.

"I am a 50-year-old woman with white hair; I just love the visual of me sitting in a Harvard class," she said with pure joy in her voice. She earned her bachelor's degree at Western Kentucky University where she majored in political science and journalism.

In addition to taking classes, fellows attend Nieman seminars, workshops and master classes and work closely with Harvard scholars and other leading thinkers in the Cambridge, Mass., area.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism has educated more than 1,400 accomplished journalists from 93 countries since 1938.

Princess Health andKentucky's suicide rate is above the national average; experts say we need to ignore the stigma and become educated about it.Princessiccia

Princess Health andKentucky's suicide rate is above the national average; experts say we need to ignore the stigma and become educated about it.Princessiccia

newspapers suicide

Gusty 10:32 Add Comment

Kentucky's suicide rate is higher than the national average, and an expert says we must create an open dialogue about it and provide more education if we want this rate to decrease, Kat Russell reports for The Paducah Sun.

"People commit suicide when they see no way out from whatever the situation is," Dr. Laurie Ballew, medical director at Paducah's Lourdes Behavioral Health Institute, told Russell. "Usually people feel hopeless, they see no light at the end of the tunnel, and that hopelessness is a key factor in someone following through with the act of killing themselves."

Russell did an in-depth look at suicide in McCracken County, where the newspaper and its owner, Paxton Media Group, are based. "McCracken County is ranked 13th in the state as far as suicide, so if you take into consideration all of the (120) counties in Kentucky, we're pretty high," Ballew said. Click here to find out where your county ranks.

Kentucky has 15.5 suicides per 100,000 people, compared to 12.5 nationwide. It is the 10th leading cause of death in Kentucky and the second leading cause of death in people 15 to 34, according to the according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Russell reports.

McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden told Russell that his department investigated 31 suicides in each of the last two years and five so far this year. The Paducah Police Department reported 31 suicides in 2013 and 35 in 2014, and six suicides this year. The local 911 dispatch center told Russell that it had fielded more than 540 calls threatening suicide and more than 130 attempted suicides since Jan. 1, 2013.

"We get calls multiple times per week, threatening suicide either with medication or a weapon of some sort," Hayden said, noting that most of the calls do not result in suicide and the individual usually gets the help they need.

WebMD lists these warning signs of suicide, which are especially concerning if a person has attempted suicide in the past:

• Always talking or thinking about death
• Clinical depression that gets worse
• Having a "death wish," tempting fate by taking risks that could lead to death.
• Losing interest in things one used to care about
• Making comments about being hopeless, helpless, or worthless
• Putting affairs in order, tying up loose ends, changing a will
• Saying things like "it would be better if I wasn't here" or "I want out"
• Sudden, unexpected switch from being very sad to being very calm or appearing to be happy
• Talking about suicide or killing one's self
• Visiting or calling people to say goodbye

Drug and alcohol abuse also can be factors, Ballew told Russell. "What do those things do? They decrease our inhibition, they decrease our filter that tells us 'Oh no, you don't want to do that.'"

Ballew told Russell if a person's behavior changes are milder, "sometimes showing that person support and compassion can alleviate some of his or her suffering and encourage them to get help," but it is important to seek medical attention for "severe cases."

"If you have an individual who just gets more and more depressed, who won't get out of bed or gets to the point where they can't get out of bed, then you (should) call an ambulance or get them to a hospital and have them admitted," Ballew said, stressing the importance of education and open discussion.

"Emotional illness can hit anybody," she told Russell. "We're all humans. ... Anybody can feel hopeless or helpless at any time. If we could reduce the stigma that is attached to depression and mental illness and suicide, then I think people who are suffering might see that maybe there is some hope. But the only way to prevent something is to be educated about it."

Princess Health andBurgin, in heart of Kentucky, is state's 40th school district to go tobacco-free; ban, won by students, applies to vapor products.Princessiccia

Princess Health andBurgin, in heart of Kentucky, is state's 40th school district to go tobacco-free; ban, won by students, applies to vapor products.Princessiccia

newspapers school health schools smoking smoking ban smoking bans tobacco tobacco prevention tobacco-free youth

Gusty 07:20 Add Comment

Burgin Independent Schools, in the heart of Kentucky, will be the latest 100 percent tobacco-free schools in the state, and the first in Mercer County, which has a strong tobacco heritage.

The Burgin Board of Education voted April 8 to ban all tobacco use, including vapor products, on school grounds and during school-related student trips, Robert Moore reports for The Harrodsburg Herald. The policy becomes effective July 1 and includes any building or vehicle owned or operated by the board and applies to any renters of school property.

Burgin will be the 40th Kentucky school district to become fully tobacco-free. Kentucky has 173 public- school districts, with 1,233 public schools, according to the state Department of Education.

The Kentucky 100 percent Tobacco-Free Schools website says, "Studies show that schools with 100 percent tobacco-free school policies for three years of more have 40 percent fewer smokers than those in non-tobacco free school districts." The 2013 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 18 percent of Kentucky youth smoke, and 47 percent of them have smoked at least once.

"I�m really proud we�re going to be a tobacco free campus," board member Priscilla Harris told the Herald after the meeting. "We want to set a good example." The independently owned weekly newspaper recently did a three-part series on tobacco in the county, including Burgin students' efforts to get tobacco banned.

Kentucky 100 percent Tobacco Free Schools map, with Burgin added

Princess Health andFate of rural hospitals rests in the hands of community members, writes publisher of weekly Crittenden Press in Marion.Princessiccia

Princess Health andFate of rural hospitals rests in the hands of community members, writes publisher of weekly Crittenden Press in Marion.Princessiccia

business health health care access hospitals newspapers rural health rural hospitals rural-urban disparities

Gusty 13:22 Add Comment

Just like country grocery stores in rural areas often have to close because community members drive past them to chain stores to save a few cents, rural hospitals will also suffer and eventually disappear if citizens do not use them, Publisher Chris Evans writes for The Crittenden Press in Marion.

When Evans was growing up in northwest Tennessee, his grandparents had to close their grocery store, which had been the center of the community, because too many people chose to purchase their food and other items from the new Walmart eight miles down the road. "Our rural hospitals are headed down the same path of extinction unless we recognize and reverse the trend," Evans writes.

Charlie Hunt, volunteer chairman of Crittenden Health Systems, which owns the local hospital, told Evans, "The only way for rural hospitals to survive is through community support."

In Kentucky, one-quarter of the 66 rural hospitals are in danger of closing, according to state Auditor Adam Edelen. In general, "Country hospitals do not have a good record for making money or breaking even, for that matter," Evans writes in a front-page column for the weekly he and his wife own.

Based on the results of Obamacare, Evans opines, it appears that America is moving toward a single-payer health care system like Canada's. Then instead of the government paying for 85 percent of Crittenden Hospital's services, it will pay for 100 percent. "When that happens, hospitals will have to play solely by government rules or get completely out of the game," Evans writes. Most of the 50 rural hospitals that have been shuttered in the past few years have been in the rural South.

"Hunt, who chairs the board, said that approximately 10 percent of the future of this hospital rests in the hands of its leaders. The other 90 percent falls squarely on the shoulders of this community," Evans writes. The column is not online, but PDFs of the pages on which it appears are posted here.

Princess Health and Princess Health andPaducah Sun editorial criticizing Medicaid expansion was off base; Beshear sends the newspaper a response.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andPaducah Sun editorial criticizing Medicaid expansion was off base; Beshear sends the newspaper a response.Princessiccia

health reform jobs Medicaid newspapers obamacare research state budget state government taxes

Gusty 18:58 Add Comment

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

The Paducah Sun relied on incomplete and inaccurate information for an editorial Thursday that criticized Gov. Steve Beshear's expansion of the Medicaid program under federal health-care reform, and the governor is complaining about it.

The newspaper said Beshear had created a "financial mess" because when he was running for governor, he "told our editorial board that he had 'no idea where we would get the money' to pay the state's share of the cost of Medicaid expansion if the Affordable Care Act was passed. He still doesn't."

Actually, when he announced the Medicaid expansion a year ago, Beshear cited a study by the international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers which concluded that the expansion would pay for itself by adding patients to the health-care system and creating 17,000 jobs by the 2020-21 fiscal year.

The editorial made no mention of the study. Beshear's communications director, Kerri Richardson, told the paper Tuesday that the editorial was "grossly misleading, and we are disappointed that your editorial board has chosen not to seek information from anyone in our administration regarding actions on the Affordable Care Act."

In the formal response from Beshear, submitted for publication, the governor says the editorial "was so breathtakingly disingenuous that it demands a factual response. That a newspaper of this size would trot out such unsubstantiated tripe disguised as analysis is a disservice to its readers."

Sun Editor Steve Wilson said the editorial was written by Publisher Jim Paxton, who did not return a call seeking comment. The Sun's editorials generally support conservative causes and Republicans; Beshear is a Democrat and the only Southern governor to both expand Medicaid and create a health-insurance exchange under the reform law.

The editorial also misstated when Kentucky would have to start sharing in the cost of care for the newly eligible Medicaid recipients, those with household incomes between 69 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. It cited a study by the conservative Heritage Foundation which "suggests that even when savings from ACA managed-care features are added in, the expansion will cost Kentucky an additional $846 million between 2014 and 2022."

Actually, the state will not have to pay anything for the newly eligibles until 2017 because the federal government will pick up the entire cost until then. In 2017, the state will have to pay 5 percent of their cost, rising to a cap of 10 percent in 2020. Republican critics of the law have said the cap will have to be raised, but have not found fault with the study.

Studies by the accounting firm and the University of Louisville's Urban Studies Center, drawing on Congressional Budget Office data, estimated the state would actually gain $802 million through the 2020-21 fiscal year from Medicaid expansion. "Without expansion, our budget would see a negative impact of nearly $40 million, because we would be forced to absorb costs such as increased payments to hospitals for uncompensated care, " Beshear wrote. "In other words, the state would lose money if we didn�t expand." Click here for the rest of his reply.

Beshear said in his response that he sent the Sun an op-ed piece a year ago this week explaining the facts, but the paper apparently refused to publish it.

Princess Health and Princess Health andTodd County weekly's editor-publisher wonders why so many uninsured locals haven't signed up for health insurance.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andTodd County weekly's editor-publisher wonders why so many uninsured locals haven't signed up for health insurance.Princessiccia

health insurance health journalism health rankings health reform insurance exchange journalism newspapers obamacare

Gusty 16:27 Add Comment

With open enrollment in the new health-insurance exchanges ending March 31, at least one country editor is wondering why most people in his community who lack coverage haven't take advantage of the historic opportunity. And since he's in Kentucky, he used the state's next-to-last ranking in the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index as the point of departure for an article that took up most of his editorial page.

"Kentucky is its own worst enemy . . . and if you think this is just an Eastern Kentucky problem, you aren't paying attention," Editor-Publisher Ryan Craig, right, wrote in last week's Todd County Standard, in Western Kentucky. "Our numbers suggest we are as miserable as anywhere in the state, i.e., the nation." Craig then listed statistics for poverty, income, education and health insurance and said bluntly, "We are near the bottom in all of these categories, which are the same categories that cause Kentucky to have such a dismal ranking in the Miserable Test year after year."

Craig says Todd County, "it, seems, is among the bottom of counties who signed up for the Affordable Care Act," and wonders why only 533 of the estimated 2,455 people in his county without health insurance have signed up for it: "Is it because of fear of the unknown? Politics? The prevailing answer people tell me is that they would rather pay the tax penalty and not have the insurance. What would happen if that person or someone in their family was in a car wreck? They readily admit that they are taking a big chance, but don't see how they can afford the insurance even when it is cheaper now, especially those who are very sick and couldn't get insurance before." One man told him he would have to declare bankruptcy.

"The deadline to apply for health insurance through the exchange is March 31," Craig writes. "If you don't have insurance, at least consider the process." The Standard has been judged Kentucky's best small weekly newspaper seven years in a row, but doesn't put news or editorials online. For a scan of the editorial as a PDF, click here.

Princess Health and Weekly paper in Hazard says Beshear should expand Medicaid.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Weekly paper in Hazard says Beshear should expand Medicaid.Princessiccia

Affordable Care Act Medicaid newspapers Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act state budget state government

Gusty 15:16 Add Comment

Gov. Steve Beshear should expand the Medicaid program for the poor under federal health reform to improve the health and welfare of Kentuckians, The Hazard Herald said in its editorial this week.

"We�re tired of reading report after report listing the health of Kentucky�s people at the bottom nationally," the weekly newspaper said. "That is especially the case in Eastern Kentucky, where here in Perry County we ranked as the 119th unhealthiest county out of 120, according to a recent study. In fact, the vast majority of the bottom 20 counties are here in Eastern Kentucky. There are many dire needs in our region of the state, from jobs to education to better access to health care. Here is one instance where our government, which the people fund, can opt to very possibly improve the lives of its citizens."

The federal government would pay the costs of expanding Medicaid to people in households with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level from 2014 through 2016. The state would pay 3 percent in 2017, rising to 10 percent in 2020. The editorial noted critics' warnings about costs, and a study predicting that expansion would increase the state's total Medicaid costs only 6.3 percent. "But, in truth, this is simply a monetary argument from interests on both sides of the debate," the paper said. "We feel the greatest interest belongs to the people of Kentucky. We feel the greatest priority should be placed on improving the health and welfare of our people." (Read more)

Princess Health and Bill to shield nursing homes from lawsuits clears Senate along party lines; not looking healthy in House despite TV, radio ads.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Bill to shield nursing homes from lawsuits clears Senate along party lines; not looking healthy in House despite TV, radio ads.Princessiccia

advertising health journalism health policy legislation legislature lobbying long-term care newspapers nursing homes politics state government; General Assembly tort reform

Gusty 13:52 Add Comment

Last week the state Senate approved on party lines a bill that would make lawsuits against nursing homes go through a review panel first. Republicans supported the bill and Democrats voted against it in a 23-12 vote that marked the clearest partisan split in the Senate in this year's legislative session.

Senate Bill 9 would create medical review panels of three physicians and an attorney moderator to hear complaints against long-term care facilities and vote on whether the suit had enough merit to go to court.  The bill's sponsor, Senate Health and Welfare Chairwoman Julie Denton, R-Louisville, declind to answer an opposign senator's questions about the bill. She said in introducing it that the panel would be advisory but its opinion would be admissible in court and would curb such lawsuits, reports Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Bills like this have failed in years past and could have diverse implications for Kentucky communities and nursing homes. At least one Kentucky newspaper looked around and found that lawsuits are one reason Extendicare Health Services Inc. shed management responsibilities last year for all 21 of its facilities in Kentucky, reports Nick Tabor of the Kentucky New Era in Hopkinsville.

Without Extendicare management in Western Kentucky, the volume of nursing-home lawsuits in the region appears to be shrinking, Tabor reports. In recent years, nearly all the Christian County cases that have been closed were dismissed through settlements, not by judges declaring them unfounded. This suggests the bill would minimally affect the county, writes Tabor. Other Kentucky communities may be affected differently; judges differ from circuit to circuit.

Although the bill passed the Senate, it appears to be on its deathbed in the House. Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, who chairs the House Health and Welfare Committee, joked about its prospects to Tabor: �I can�t make any predictions about the bill this time, but I�ve called in three priests to have the last rites ready.� If nursing homes received this new layer of protection, he said, hospitals and day-care centers would want it too.

A similar bill died in Burch's committee last year; this version is being supported by television and radio commercials urging viewers and listeners to call their legislators in support. When Extendicare announced last spring it was transferring management of all its Kentucky facilities to a Texas company, it cited Kentucky�s �worsening litigation environment� and said tort reform seemed unlikely here.

Bernie Vonderheide, director of Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform, said most so-called �frivolous� lawsuits would cease if the state imposed minimum staffing requirements on nursing homes, his group's main legislative goal. (Read more)

Princess Health and Herald-Leader says state running out of time to fix Medicaid managed care, with decision on expansion looming.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Herald-Leader says state running out of time to fix Medicaid managed care, with decision on expansion looming.Princessiccia

health care access health care costs health reform managed care Medicaid newspapers state government state government; General Assembly

Gusty 10:45 Add Comment

A recent editorial in the Lexington Herald-Leader called for swift legislative action to fix the problems of Medicaid managed care. Timely action is even more necessary since the state is considering expanding the program, some critics have said.

Fifteen months ago the administration of Gov. Steve Beshear made a quick transition to managed care that privatized Medicaid for 550,000 poor, elderly and disabled people and was projected to save Kentucky $375 million in three years.  If the state expands Medicaid, that number of covered individuals could grow to more than 1 million � or roughly a quarter of all Kentuckians.

Although Medicaid is encouraging preventive care, such as more well-child visits and diabetes testing, providers haven't been paid for some of their services. The state recently granted the managed care companies a seven percent rate increase, and the companies have said they're losing money here and one is pulling out in July. But at the end of the first eight months of managed care Medicaid, the state had paid $500 million more to the companies than the companies had paid to providers.

"The delay and denial of payments are creating financial crises for providers and pharmacies and forcing small hospitals to lay off employees, deplete reserves and default on bonds," the editorial said. "This is creating a massive transfer of wealth from Kentucky medical practices and hospitals to for-profit companies based in other states. . . . For patients, the companies are putting up barriers to care that would be illegal in the private sector. The new burdens that have been placed on vulnerable Kentuckians and their medical providers threaten to unravel not just the safety net but, in some places, the whole health care system."

The editorial called on the General Assembly to pass legislation to curb abuses such as "the stiffing of hospitals that provide emergency care as required by federal law. . . . House Bill 299 and Senate Bill 178 would also curb the false economy of severely limiting in-patient mental-health care for children while referring them to nonexistent out-patient care."

The legislation would also require Medicaid managed care companies to:

• Meet the same provider network standards, including distance to hospitals and obstetrical care, as other insurers operating under Kentucky law.
• Decide claims based on nationally recognized clinical standards and provide specific reasons for denials so providers would know what's allowable.
• Participate in an appeals process for denied claims.

Appalachian Regional Healthcare wants to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and others, alleging that the new system is out of compliance with federal law.

"The feds shouldn't have to be dragged in," the editorial says. "The federal government covers roughly 70 percent of Kentucky�s $6 billion Medicaid program. Expanding Medicaid to include more low-income people is a linchpin of federal health care reform," and Beshear has said that he wants to expand Medicaid if the state can afford it. "Kentucky can't wait much longer to get Medicaid right." (Read more)

Princess Health and Ky. Rural Health Association seeks entries in reporting contest.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Ky. Rural Health Association seeks entries in reporting contest.Princessiccia

awards health journalism newspapers rural health

Gusty 20:28 Add Comment

The Kentucky Rural Health Association invites nominations for its annual rural health reporting awards, which aim to encourage more and better coverage of Kentucky�s rural health-related issues by the state�s newspapers.

The contest has daily and non-daily divisions, each with two categories: series and single story. Each of the four winners gets a plaque and a $100 prize at KRHA's summer conference. Articles must originally have been published during the preceding fiscal year. Entries will be accepted from staff writers, editors, freelance writers and others affiliated with a Kentucky-based newspaper, and from KRHA members and community members at large on the writers� or newspapers� behalf. Each entry should include three copies of the article as it originally appeared in the newspaper. The awards will be based on relevance to rural health, quality of reporting, impact on health care policy and new insights generated by the reporting.

For entry information, contact Ernie L. Scott of the Kentucky Office of Rural Health at 750 Morton Blvd., Hazard KY 41701, or 606.439.3557 ext. 83689, or ernie.scott@uky.edu.

Princess Health and Couple shares 'horrible journey' of prescription drug abuse.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Couple shares 'horrible journey' of prescription drug abuse.Princessiccia

health journalism newspapers pain management pill mills prescription drug abuse prescription drugs

Gusty 08:20 Add Comment

Recovering pill addict Stacy Pennington
of Ashland is due to give birth next month.
(Courier-Journal photo by Matt Stone)

Stacy and James Pennington had to lose everything, including their children and home, before they were able to face their prescription drug abuse problem. Now in recovery at The Healing Place in Louisville, they spoke to The Courier-Journal's Laura Ungar of their downward spiral.

"It had gotten to the point where my prescription drugs were my everything. As long as I had them, I was OK," said James, 40, of Ashland. "Before, we had everything we could want. In the end, we were just feeding an addiction. We had lost everything."

Stacy Pennington said she took her first painkillers in 2002 after she cut her finger on a glass candle jar and needed two surgeries. "A year later, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, then severe endometriosis, and she required several more surgeries," Ungar reports. "Each of her 14 operations brought another prescription for pain pills."

James Pennington took prescription drugs for the first time at age 14 after he dislocated his shoulder. After he broke his shoulder in a motorcycle accident when he was 25, he got a 30-day supply for Percocet and, later, was prescribed more of the drug after a knee injury. "Pain medications became my drug of choice from there on out," he said.

Soon, he was traveling to "pill mills" in Florida to fuel his addiction, pills he sold and shared with his wife. When Stacy gave birth to their daughter, she was heavily addicted and eventually lost custody of her. James' older daughter was also taken from the home. 

Before Stacy Pennington checked in to The Healing Place, she had sold her engagement ring, the Penningtons sold their home before they lost it, and they were spending $100 to $500 a day to feed their addiction. Now, Stacy is expecting another child and the couple is fighting for their sobriety. "It's a horrible journey. I had to absolutely lose everything. But I see that as a blessing," said James Pennington. "I'm so glad I'm on the other side today." (Read more)

Princess Health and Rural newspapers don't write a lot of health stories � but they should, expert says.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Rural newspapers don't write a lot of health stories � but they should, expert says.Princessiccia

health journalism newspapers rural health

Gusty 14:47 Add Comment

�If a newspaper can�t stand for better health and better health care, then what in the world can it stand for?� This was the galvanizing statement of a talk today by Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, who keynoted the third annual Kentucky Health Literacy Summit. Cross discussed ways newspapers are � and aren�t � publishing health-related stories on their pages.

A research paper Cross presented with University of Kentucky graduate student Sarah Vos yesterday showed that with a few exceptions, rural newspapers in the state are not publishing many articles about health care and health. The vast majority of articles � 71 percent � run on the inside of the paper rather than on the front page. In large part, stories are institutionally oriented, Cross said, often pertaining to promoting the local hospital or reporting on problems with it.

Interviews with rural publishers and editors in Kentucky and Mississippi showed �while many of them believe health coverage is important, they are reluctant to be seen as crusading in the news columns for a cause, even if it is one that usually has no countervailing interest,� Cross said. He said Kentucky editors are specifically reluctant to point out health disparities comparing their community to neighbors, the state or nation, because they want to build up the community �rather than going out of their way to point out local problems that have no easy solutions.�

Another issue is that most of Kentucky�s 150 newspapers serve very small markets, which �mean less revenue, small staffs and low pay, so most of these newspapers lack the resources to do what we journalists call enterprise reporting,� Cross said. And with all but two Kentucky dailies owned by corporate chains, that can mean �less news space, fewer staff members, more focus on number of stories rather than quality, less focus on community service, more on bottom line,� he said.

However, rural newspapers continue to have considerable influence over their readership, with 60 percent of adults saying their local paper is their primary source of news. Their content is almost entirely local. Thus, Cross said, there are opportunities � and ones that don�t require a lot of legwork. A story about someone's life being saved because she got a cancer screening can make a big impact, he said, and sometimes an article written by an outside source, such as a local extension agent, �doesn�t need to be put on page 12.� Cross said. Newspapers can use social media, such as Facebook, to promote their stories and find local people willing to talk about a health issue.

Cross also recommended Kentucky Health News as a service editors can rely on for stories that can be used verbatim or be easily localized. Cross noted newspapers are using the service, and �We think we are moving the needle.�