PublicSource | News for a better Pittsburgh (https://www.publicsource.org/category/health/)
Involuntary mental health treatment is a highly controversial issue among practitioners, advocates and those who have sought and received treatment. Some argue that involuntary treatment is the only way to guarantee that certain people get the help they need. Others say it infringes on a person’s civil rights and can push them away from seeking help in the future.
To further educate local residents and environmental groups about the threat of PFAS, PublicSource and Environmental Health News hosted a special forum on Sept. 12 at the Marriott Hotel near the Pittsburgh International Airport. The military bases near the airport are identified sites of PFAS contamination, and the airport is a potential source of contamination as well, according to reports from former firefighters, airport records, expert scientists and a military study. The panel included: Carla Ng, a PFAS researcher at the University of Pittsburgh; Lisa Daniels, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's director of the Bureau of Safe Drinking Water; Melanie Benesh, the legislative attorney for the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that has done extensive PFAS research; Hope Grosse and Joanne Stanton, residents in Eastern Pennsylvania who have lived near PFAS contamination (via video chat); and Caitlin Berretta, the manager of business development at Evoqua, a company headquartered in Pittsburgh that does PFAS remediation. Editor's note: This event was part of an ongoing collaboration between Environmental Health News and PublicSource on PFAS contamination in Pennsylvania and was funded in part through the Bridge Pittsburgh Media Partnership.
Supporters of integrated care believe it will better serve patients. Proponents of the current system worry about the loss of local control and funds.
Oh, I feel nervous, and I know it’s a drill,’ said one principal, hiding under a desk.
Airport officials say they're doing everything the law requires regarding PFAS. Experts say the law doesn't go far enough.
It's been more than three and a half years since the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority was put on notice for high lead levels in the city's drinking water, and new data shows the lead levels continue to be out of compliance.
Keisha Bryant works to re-integrate Penny’s House residents into the community despite the general criticisms of three-quarter houses as lacking structure and treatment.
Janet Simeone has been diagnosed with an intellectual disability. Combined with depression and anxiety, she has difficulty doing things on her own, including making friends and living independently.
Hacker, the county’s highest paid employee with a salary of more than $220,000, said she thinks she should be judged on the progress she’s helped to usher in, including reduced lead poisoning in children, fewer opioid overdose deaths and a steady decline in air pollution that is on the verge of coming into compliance with the law.
But a number of constraints made the work difficult.
After a Dec. 24 fire at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, Allegheny County Health Department officials discussed internally how to respond. The department considered issuing an emergency order to require U.S. Steel to take steps to reduce its emissions, email records show. Officials went as far as drafting such an order, they said. But they didn’t issue it because the company was already voluntarily taking many of the steps the county believed would keep residents safe.
