Category: Health Care
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An Alleged Wrongful Death in Colonial Heights Revisited
by James C. Sherlock I published in February 2025 a series of articles on a nursing home wrongful death scandal that was revealed when police swarmed Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (Colonial Heights) in late December of 2024. The government has alleged in court that a woman, helpless with cerebral palsy and diabetes, died…
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Youngkin Being Careful On His Way Out
by Dick Hall-Sizemore With one foot out of the Virginia Governor’s Executive Mansion and both eyes on the White House, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is being careful not to cross Donald Trump. In recent comments he has praised Trump actions and downplayed or publicly ignored any negative effects on the Commonwealth of recent Trump initiatives. Tax and…
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Major Hit to Virginia Budget Looming in Congress
by Dick Hall-Sizemore There are many provisions of the reconciliation bill now being considered by the U.S. Senate that would affect Virginia. One issue that would have a great impact is the proposed crackdown on health-related taxes or assessments used by states. The federal Medicaid statutes authorize states to levy taxes, or assessments as they…
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A New Outbreak of Covid-19 Hysteria
by Carol J. Bova The Covid-19 pandemic may have faded from public consciousness, but controversy over how best to fight the virus rages unabated. For the week ending, June 7, 2025, The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reported Covid-19 was responsible for 0.3 percent of emergency room visits — compared to 0.2 percent for influenza…
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Preschoolers Gone Wild?
by James A. Bacon The number of Virginia preschoolers with disabilities has increased 24% of the past two years. The response of the Virginia Board of Education? Hire more special education teachers! Voting 7 to 0, the Board directed the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to remove the requirement for special-ed teachers to do graduate-level…
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The Government Blob and UnitedHealth – Which is Worse?
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying. The Guardian, a UK-based tabloid with a U.S. edition, wrote a thunderous exposé about UnitedHealth. The title: Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers. First paragraph: UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest healthcare conglomerate, has secretly paid nursing homes thousands…
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Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.
Want to know more about the latest Medicaid budget controversy? You’ll learn more sitting in your back yard and listening to the crickets. by James A. Bacon Today we read in the Virginia Mercury the alarming headline that Governor Glenn Youngkin and other Republican governors have signed a letter supporting a congressional budget bill “that…
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Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Down 44% in ’24
And now for a piece of good news! Fentanyl-related deaths in Virginia declined 44% in 2024 compared to the year before, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and touted by the Youngkin administration. Better yet, that was the best year-to-year performance of any state in the country. Nationally, drug overdose deaths…
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Talking Out of Both Sides of Their Mouths
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Two members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-2nd District) and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-1st District) seem to be in a bind over how to handle budget decisions coming up later this year in Congress. As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, they joined ten other Republican members of the House of…
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No Rubber Stamps Wanted Here
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In addition to making a person really sick and miserable, the flu can be deadly. According to Virginia Dept. of Health data, 243 Virginians have died due to flu during the current flu season (Aug. 1, 2024 to March 29, 2025). Five of those deaths were children. During its peak, the week…
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Hospitalizations from Drug Use Disorders Persisted in 2024
Hospital discharges for patients diagnosed with drug-use disorders leveled off in 2024 compared to the previous year but remain elevated compared to the pre-COVID era, according to data released by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. Discharges numbered 64,460 last year, up marginally from 64,248 the previous year. In 2020 the number was 57,997. The…
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Three Former Rectors Defend Former Hospital CEO
by James A. Bacon Three former rectors of the University of Virginia have written a letter defending Craig Kent, the UVA Health system CEO who resigned in February after an investigation into alleged abuses at the UVA Medical Center. “We have a strong impression that there may be just a very small handful of doctors…
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When Will We Apologize for the Shutdowns?
by Chap Petersen Exactly five years ago, March 23, 2020, Virginia’s Governor issued “Executive Order 53” which shut down the state economy in order to “flatten the curve” of COVID19 infections. It would continue in force until June 30, 2021, or over fifteen months. Under strict legal penalty, schools were closed, small businesses shuttered and…
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Big Pharma Greed — or Low Risk Tolerance?
by James A. Bacon “All over this country, the American people are asking why it is that they pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs?” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders noted in a screed published a couple of years ago. “Why is it that nearly one out of every four adults…
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Oh, All Those Drug Ads
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Tom Garrett, who was formerly a state senator, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and is now a member of the House of Delegates from Goochland County, has called on President Trump to rein in drug prices. One of his suggestions is to prohibit drug companies from advertising. Saying…