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State Health Board member dismisses concerns about syphilis, HIV, and contraception access

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State Health Board member dismisses concerns about syphilis, HIV, and contraception access

At the time Gov. Tate Reeves appointed a Flowood neurosurgeon to the State Board of Health, the doctor said he was committed to “sound, science-based policy.”

But two years later, he has at least three times made dismissive and what other health experts see as ill-informed commentary on social media about public health issues.

Gov. Tate Reeves in 2021 appointed Dr. John D. Davis to the State Board of Health to fill the six-year term of Dr. Ed “Tad” Barham, who had died.

At the time he was appointed, Davis said he was “committed to sound, science-based policy with efficient execution” and looked forward to addressing “important matters that impact the health and lives of Mississippians,” according to a Health Department press release.

In a now-deleted tweet, however, he seemed unconcerned about the rise in Mississippi babies with syphilis.

“It’s not hard to go a lifetime and never contact syphilis. It doesn’t fall out of the sky. And it’s easy to treat if you have sex with someone who has it and gives ot (sic) to you,” he tweeted in response to a Mississippi Today story about a 900% increase in congenital syphilis cases in the state.

After Mississippi Today reached out to Davis about this and other statements last week, he deleted the tweet and updated his Twitter bio to state: “All opinions provided are mine alone, and they should not be construed as representing any other individual or organization.”

Mississippi now leads the country in cases of the sexually transmitted infection. Syphilis can cause miscarriages and death. Children born with the disease can have major malformations and life-long complications.

In 2016, eight babies in Mississippi were born and hospitalized with syphilis. In 2021, that number hit 106, according to data former State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs shared based on Health Department and hospital discharge numbers. While syphilis cases in infants have gone up nationwide, Mississippi’s rate of increase is nearly five times the national average.

Several messages left with Davis at his office in Flowood were not returned.

Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment on Davis’ statements.

The State Board of Health is an 11-member board that provides policy direction for the health agency.

Dr. Khalil Ghanem, president of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association and a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins medical school, shared a response to those tweets with Mississippi Today.

“While some people do live their lives without getting syphilis, others do not. What these two groups have in common is the desire to have healthy children who are afforded an opportunity to achieve success and happiness in their lives. Unfortunately, syphilis often robs the parents and their children of these opportunities,” Ghanem, whose expertise includes HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, said.

“With more than an 900% increase in the rates of this cruel but completely preventable infection, more children are being robbed of these opportunities and that should be deemed unacceptable and intolerable by all members of society who care about the welfare of children. It is critical to invest in these kids by putting an end to this senseless and preventable infection,” he continued.

Ghanem and others also point out that syphilis is not always “so easy to treat,” and many people who have syphilis do not have symptoms. According to the Mayo Clinic, people may be infected for years without ever seeing symptoms.

During pregnancy, Ghanem said, it is critical to identify the infection before the 20th week of pregnancy for best protection of the baby. If pregnant patients aren’t screened and treated early, complications may still arise even with treatment.

Davis expressed a similar attitude toward HIV: “It’s not difficult at all to avoid getting HIV. Does someone need government intervention to live a long life HIV (-)?”

He made the comment in response to a news story about the state of Tennessee rejecting HIV funding from the federal government – funds that Mississippi itself accepts.

One of the Health Department’s primary roles is prevention programs for HIV. It is also tasked with disease tracking and outbreak management; lab testing for syphilis, TB, and other diseases; and prevention programs for other STDs and communicable diseases.

The Health Department and the Mississippi Public Health Association did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Davis has also argued with the notion that contraception can be difficult to access for some Mississippians. In response to a tweet citing Sen. Nicole Akins Boyd explaining the problems women on Medicaid have accessing long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), Davis responded on Feb. 10: “Fine. While we work on improving access to longer acting contraception, use the pill or condoms. ‘I can’t help it that I got pregnant’ is not valid in 2023 (aside from the less than 1% that tragically result from rape.)”

Birth control pills are 99% effective at preventing pregnancy when taken consistently every day. About nine out of 100 women who use the pill have unintended pregnancies every year, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Condoms are 98% effective when used perfectly but can leak, tear or come off, resulting in reduced effectiveness.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1997

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-22 07:00:00

Dec. 22, 1997

Myrlie Evers and Reena Evers-Everette cheer the jury verdict of Feb. 5, 1994, when Byron De La Beckwith was found guilty of the 1963 murder of Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers. Credit: AP/Rogelio Solis

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers. 

In the court’s 4–2 decision, Justice Mike Mills praised efforts “to squeeze justice out of the harm caused by a furtive explosion which erupted from dark bushes on a June night in Jackson, Mississippi.” 

He wrote that Beckwith’s constitutional right to a speedy trial had not been denied. His “complicity with the Sovereignty Commission’s involvement in the prior trials contributed to the delay.” 

The decision did more than ensure that Beckwith would stay behind bars. The conviction helped clear the way for other prosecutions of unpunished killings from the Civil Rights Era.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Medicaid expansion tracker approaches $1 billion loss for Mississippi

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-12-22 06:00:00

About the time people ring in the new year next week, the digital tracker on Mississippi Today’s homepage tabulating the amount of money the state is losing by not expanding Medicaid will hit $1 billion.

The state has lost $1 billion not since the start of the quickly departing 2024 but since the beginning of the state’s fiscal year on July 1.

Some who oppose Medicaid expansion say the digital tracker is flawed.

During an October news conference, when state Auditor Shad White unveiled details of his $2 million study seeking ways to cut state government spending, he said he did not look at Medicaid expansion as a method to save money or grow state revenue.

“I think that (Mississippi Today) calculator is wrong,” White said. “… I don’t think that takes into account how many people are going to be moved off the federal health care exchange where their health care is paid for fully by the federal government and moved onto Medicaid.”

White is not the only Mississippi politician who has expressed concern that if Medicaid expansion were enacted, thousands of people would lose their insurance on the exchange and be forced to enroll in Medicaid for health care coverage.

Mississippi Today’s projections used for the tracker are based on studies conducted by the Institutions of Higher Learning University Research Center. Granted, there are a lot of variables in the study that are inexact. It is impossible to say, for example, how many people will get sick and need health care, thus increasing the cost of Medicaid expansion. But is reasonable that the projections of the University Research Center are in the ballpark of being accurate and close to other studies conducted by health care experts.

White and others are correct that Mississippi Today’s calculator does not take into account money flowing into the state for people covered on the health care exchange. But that money does not go to the state; it goes to insurance companies that, granted, use that money to reimburse Mississippians for providing health care. But at least a portion of the money goes to out-of-state insurance companies as profits.

Both Medicaid expansion and the health care exchange are part of the Affordable Care Act. Under Medicaid expansion people earning up to $20,120 annually can sign up for Medicaid and the federal government will pay the bulk of the cost. Mississippi is one of 10 states that have not opted into Medicaid expansion.

People making more than $14,580 annually can garner private insurance through the health insurance exchanges, and people below certain income levels can receive help from the federal government in paying for that coverage.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation championed and signed into law by President Joe Biden significantly increased the federal subsidies provided to people receiving insurance on the exchange. Those increased subsidies led to many Mississippians — desperate for health care — turning to the exchange for help.

White, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, Gov. Tate Reeves and others have expressed concern that those people would lose their private health insurance and be forced to sign up for Medicaid if lawmakers vote to expand Medicaid.

They are correct.

But they do not mention that the enhanced benefits authored by the Biden administration are scheduled to expire in December 2025 unless they are reenacted by Congress. The incoming Donald Trump administration has given no indication it will continue the enhanced subsidies.

As a matter of fact, the Trump administration, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is looking for ways to cut federal spending.

Some have speculated that Medicaid expansion also could be on Musk’s chopping block.

That is possible. But remember congressional action is required to continue the enhanced subsidies. On the flip side, congressional action would most likely be required to end or cut Medicaid expansion.

Would the multiple U.S. senators and House members in the red states that have expanded Medicaid vote to end a program that is providing health care to thousands of their constituents?

If Congress does not continue Biden’s enhanced subsidies, the rates for Mississippians on the exchange will increase on average about $500 per year, according to a study by KFF, a national health advocacy nonprofit. If that occurs, it is likely that many of the 280,000 Mississippians on the exchange will drop their coverage.

The result will be that Mississippi’s rate of uninsured — already one of the highest in the nation – will rise further, putting additional pressure on hospitals and other providers who will be treating patients who have no ability to pay.

In the meantime, the Mississippi Today counter that tracks the amount of money Mississippi is losing by not expanding Medicaid keeps ticking up.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1911

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-21 07:00:00

Dec. 21, 1911

A colorized photograph of Josh Gibson, who was playing with the Homestead Grays Credit: Wikipedia

Josh Gibson, the Negro League’s “Home Run King,” was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. 

When the family’s farm suffered, they moved to Pittsburgh, and Gibson tried baseball at age 16. He eventually played for a semi-pro team in Pittsburgh and became known for his towering home runs. 

He was watching the Homestead Grays play on July 25, 1930, when the catcher injured his hand. Team members called for Gibson, sitting in the stands, to join them. He was such a talented catcher that base runners were more reluctant to steal. He hit the baseball so hard and so far (580 feet once at Yankee Stadium) that he became the second-highest paid player in the Negro Leagues behind Satchel Paige, with both of them entering the National Baseball Hame of Fame. 

The Hall estimated that Gibson hit nearly 800 homers in his 17-year career and had a lifetime batting average of .359. Gibson was portrayed in the 1996 TV movie, “Soul of the Game,” by Mykelti Williamson. Blair Underwood played Jackie Robinson, Delroy Lindo portrayed Satchel Paige, and Harvey Williams played “Cat” Mays, the father of the legendary Willie Mays. 

Gibson has now been honored with a statue outside the Washington Nationals’ ballpark.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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