Department News

Well-Ahead Louisiana and the Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA) are joining efforts to help state residents live healthier lifestyles by offering healthier options on restaurant menus.

Laypeople who come to the aid of an individual who has overdosed on heroin, morphine or other opioid drugs can now receive the lifesaving medication naloxone without having to get a direct prescription from a doctor.

Today, I’m hearing different stories. I recently spoke to a middle-aged mother who was diagnosed with cancer only because she now has coverage. Without coverage, her tumor may have been picked up too late to cure and her daughters would have grown up without their mother. I heard from a man in the Lafayette area who has sickle cell anemia. Because he now has a primary care doctor, he no longer has to go to the local emergency room several times a month for care.

The Louisiana Medicaid program is adapting its coverage guidelines for cervical cancer screening to conform to American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines.

Throughout the course of the week, each home will receive an empty bottle and instructions to collect a water sample. Residents can choose to collect the sample on their own; can allow state personnel to collect the sample; or can choose not to participate in sampling.

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a Public Health Emergency for the Town of St. Joseph in North Louisiana. Residents are advised to use an alternative source for drinking water. On Dec. 15, 2016 test results conducted by the Office of Public Health showed elevated levels of lead in two samples – a private residence and the Town Hall. Also, there were two other sites with elevated levels of copper – both were private residences. The Town of St. Joseph has experienced water problems for years due to the poorly maintained and deteriorating water distribution system. Frequent breaks in the water distribution system provide a potential health risk because of the drop in water pressure.

The Louisiana Department of Health reminds state residents to get their annual flu shot if they have not done so already. An annual flu vaccine is recommended for everyone older than six months who does not have a complicating condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Matthew Guidry of Opelousas, Louisiana, is one of thousands of Louisiana residents who is now getting care because of Medicaid expansion. Guidry, who has lived with sickle cell anemia almost all of his life, looked to the local emergency room for care. Although he could get relief for his pain there, it was much more difficult to find someone to treat his ongoing vision problems.

Up to 80 percent of heroin users reported beginning their addiction by misusing prescription opioids. In its continuing efforts to address the opioid epidemic in Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Health is hosting a Lunch & Learn where medical, pharmacy and behavioral health experts will discuss the current status of prescription opioid use and abuse in Louisiana.

The Louisiana Department of Health, Department of Environmental Quality, and Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, have issued a new advisory concerning fish and shellfish for Bayou D’Inde, the Calcasieu Estuary and the Calcasieu Ship Channel.