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FBI suspected Dayton Mayor Whaley of bribery in 2014, court documents show
The FBI suspected Dayton Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley in 2014 of accepting cash bribes from a city contractor, according to unsealed search warrant applications filed in federal court. Whaley was not charged with any crime and the U.S. Department of Justice has closed the investigation. The warrants detail sworn statements from FBI […]
Judge reverses order forcing hospital to give ivermectin to COVID-19 patient
HAMILTON — A Butler County judge sided with a local hospital and reversed a previous court order forcing it to honor a prescription of ivermectin, which infectious disease experts have warned against as a COVID-19 treatment, for a patient who has spent weeks in the ICU with the disease. After two days of testimony and […]
Analysis: Collision looms in Ohio’s vaccination debate as more mandates stack up
In a sudden and unmistakable shift, Ohio’s vaccine debate transcended from the abstract to concrete. An inevitable collision looms. Even before the pandemic, some Ohio Republican lawmakers have sought to limit the ability of businesses — especially hospitals — to require vaccination from employees. This year, lawmakers have held repeated hearings on legislation to ban […]
Bipartisan senators introduce bill to price cap insulin cost share
A bipartisan pair of state Senators introduced legislation Monday to cap the prices health insurers can charge people with diabetes for their insulin. Senate Bill 220, if passed, would prohibit insurers from charging more than $35 for a 30-day supply of insulin. The bill, less than 100 words in length, could save thousands annually for […]
Recreational marijuana in Ohio? State gives OK for petitioners to gather 133K signatures
A state board gave the green light for organizers to begin gathering tens of thousands of signatures to inch closer to legalizing the sale of marijuana for recreational use in Ohio. Should they gather the roughly 133,000 signatures needed, the so-called “Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol” organizers would give their proposal to the Ohio […]
Judge orders Cinci hospital to treat COVID-19 patient with Ivermectin, despite CDC warnings
A Butler County judge ruled in favor of a woman last week who sought to force a hospital to administer Ivermectin — an animal dewormer that federal regulators have warned against using in COVID-19 patients — to her husband after several weeks in the ICU with the disease. Butler County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Howard […]
COVID-19 cases leap by 900% over a month, health department says
More than 3,000 Ohioans per day are contracting COVID-19 on average, the highest the rate has been since early February. Over the last month, hospitalizations increased by between 83% and 375% by age group, according to data from the Ohio Hospital Association. As children go back to school, more students are testing positive. Comparing the […]
Anti-vaccine attitudes thrive at committee hearing; hundreds demonstrate outside Statehouse
One day after the Ohio House Speaker announced a “pause” on a sweeping anti-vaccination bill, the House Health Committee spent five hours Tuesday fielding testimony laden with medical claims about vaccines that are diametrically opposed to guidance from state and federal health officials. While the hearing, the bill’s sixth, was ostensibly about legislation, vaccines themselves […]
School vaccine records missing for tens of thousands of Ohio students
School vaccination records were missing or incomplete among roughly 1 in 5 sampled Ohio middle and high school students last year, despite state law requiring local boards of education to track immunizations records of all enrolled students. All Ohio students, per state law, must be vaccinated against mumps, tetanus, polio, measles, Hepatitis B, chicken pox […]
Dominion dismissed from Stark County voting machine lawsuit
A Stark County judge dismissed Dominion Voter Systems on Friday as party to a lawsuit filed by a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit seeking to reverse the county’s procurement of the company’s machines. The lawsuit, filed in May by Look Ahead America LLC, steers clear of any explicit allegation that Dominion voting machines were used to defraud […]
As classes return, 62.5% of eligible 12-18 year-olds unvaccinated
Nearly two in three age-eligible teenagers remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 as summer ends and the disease looms over its third consecutive school year. Spokespersons for the state departments of health and education said they did not know what percentage of students enrolled in public schools are vaccinated. However, looking at the total population (which would […]
Ohio cities revive mask mandates as new state law stops health departments
First the Mount Vernon City School District opted against requiring masks for students. Then Gambier, a small village of 2,400, mandated masks indoors in town — where one of the district’s elementary schools happens to exist. Finally, the sheriff said neither he nor his deputies would enforce the law. It’s August 2021 and the mask […]