by Geoff Oldfather, TCPalm.com

May 8, 2007

TALLAHASSEE — It didn’t get a lot of attention, but a significant bill passed last week in Tallahassee will cut down on prescription drug abuse and deaths.It also provides safeguards for people who are prescribed multiple medications from different doctors and who might be taking medications that counteract or react badly with each other.

Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, has been pushing for the legislation for four years and said it’s a direct result of the case involving six patients of former Port St. Lucie Dr. Asuncion Luyao.The six patients died from overdoses of prescription pain medicines, including oxycodone. Luyao was convicted in March 2006 of manslaughter in the death of longtime patient Julia Hartsfield, as well as racketeering and five counts of trafficking in oxycodone.
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April 27, 2007
When rapidly increasing taxes keep people from moving, others from buying and businesses from expanding, there’s a problem.

Florida legislators have come to the rescue — as scary as that might sound — with two plans of their own:

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• The House plan, which would increase the sales tax up to 2.5 percent while eliminating property taxes for homesteaders, is best for relatively new Floridians who have expensive homes. It sells out longtime, middle-income homeowners, while benefits accrue to wealthy homeowners.

Unfortunately, this plan has bamboozled local state Reps. Stan Mayfield, Ralph Poppell and William Snyder, who voted in lockstep with their Republican leaders. The only local GOP House member to vote for the people was Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie.

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Restore state’s anti-smoking program to save lives

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

In Florida, nearly 29,000 deaths are attributable annually to tobacco use. More than 35,900 children under the age of 18 adopt a daily smoking habit each year, and about one third of those eventually will lose their lives to this addiction.
In November, voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 4 - a citizen initiative that requires the Legislature to once again annually pay for a comprehensive, statewide tobacco education and prevention program.

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