OurTupelo

When a new Mississippi law started requiring doctors to report all abortion-related complications they treated, legislators framed it as a way to shed light on a hidden epidemic of suffering.

“There exists credible evidence that two (2) or three (3) Mississippi women per week suffer complications following abortions sufficient to require hospitalization,” the 2004 bill said. 

During debate over the bill, then-Rep. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, responded to criticism that it would burden abortion providers by pointing out that all doctors would have to report complications, because women “don’t typically go back to the same doctor who butchered them.”

Yet in the 16 years after the law came into effect, the health department collected just 40 complication reports, according to documents Mississippi Today obtained from the health department through a records request. The complications were almost all for easily treatable conditions and no deaths or comas were reported. 

Between roughly 4,000 and 6,000 Mississippians got an abortion each year during that same period. 

From 2018 to 2020, 33 Mississippians died of pregnancy-related complications. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collects that data annually but to protect confidentiality does not publish the number of maternal deaths by state when the number is less than 10.)

Mississippi Today asked the health department whether there are any known issues with the data or incomplete reporting. The department did not respond. 

The law makes it a misdemeanor to fail to report an abortion complication. 

The Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion research group affiliated with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, creates annual reports on states’ abortion reporting. Genevieve Plaster, deputy director of policy at the organization, said the small number of complications reported – in some years zero – suggests some complications are not being reported, especially given the high rate of medication abortion in Mississippi. She pointed to research in California that found a 5% complication rate and a 0.3% major complication rate for medication abortions. 

“It’s highly unlikely that no complications occurred” in 2019, she said.

Fillingane said when the Complication Reporting Act was introduced, he and other lawmakers heard “rumors and stories, anecdotal evidence of abortion doctors performing poorly in the operating room and we didn’t want that to be happening in Mississippi.” In 2003, an Alabama woman died after an abortion performed by a doctor who also worked in Mississippi. He lost his license in both states.

Fillingane has looked at the complication reports occasionally, he said.

“I think we always suspected that the number of complications were few, that there weren't gonna be like this massive number of complications,” he said. “But we didn’t know. You can assume something and be totally wrong in your assumption until you have something like this in place.”

The end of elective abortion in Mississippi doesn’t affect the complications reporting requirement: Doctors will still report any complications to the health department, through a form that does not contain the patient’s name or identifying information like social security number or date of birth.

Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst at the Guttmacher Institute, a policy organization that supports abortion rights, said many states began passing complication-reporting requirements around 2010. 

“The idea was that there were all these abortion complications that people didn’t know about, and that abortion in and of itself was dangerous, so there must be all of these negative outcomes that people just aren’t aware of,” Nash said. “The problem with that is fundamentally that abortion is safe and effective.”

The anti-abortion organization Americans United for Life has proposed model legislation that, like Mississippi’s law, requires state health departments to track information about complications. Nash said she expects states where abortion is now almost entirely banned to pass laws requiring doctors to report each procedure with documentation to show why it was legal. 

In the 2022 session, both Fillingane, now a state senator, and House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, introduced a piece of AUL model legislation that would have required doctors to report detailed information on each abortion they perform. Both bills died in committee. 

The model legislation claims that “Surgical and nonsurgical (chemical) abortion is an invasive procedure that can cause severe, short-term and long-term physical and psychological complications for women, including, but not limited to…” It then lists more than 20 complications, most of which Mississippi doctors have never reported to the state health department. 

Fillingane said new legislation next session could specify what doctors must report when they perform abortions that are still legal in Mississippi, when the pregnant person’s life is threatened or when they have reported a rape to law enforcement.

“What is life threatening, how did you come to that conclusion, what evidence are you putting in your file to back that up?” he said doctors could be asked to report. “Or if it’s based on the allegations that have been made of a rape, what kind of backup information, what kind of follow-up or verification did you do of that alleged rape? Was there a police report filed, has there been an investigation, a prosecution, where are we on that?”

Several OB/GYNs have told Mississippi Today that they anticipate no doctor in the state will perform abortions in cases of rape because of the risk of being sued or criminally investigated.

Gunn, who was also a co-author on the 2004 complications reporting bill, did not respond to a request for comment. 

Now that abortion is banned in nearly all cases in Mississippi, abortion pills – which Mississippians can order online from overseas pharmacies – are likely to be the focus of new legislative efforts. Lawmakers have cited safety concerns about the pills, which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and in wide use around the country since 2000.

“… I think that causes some big problems, when you give a woman a handful of medicine to go home and expel a child,” Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, told Mississippi Today in early May.

The Mississippi statistics don’t indicate what kind of abortion led to the complication. But more than half of the abortions performed at the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state’s only abortion clinic for years, were via medication.

A study published in the medical journal the Lancet earlier this year found that about 1% of people nationally who used pills to self-manage an abortion reported serious complications, with no deaths reported.

See the annual complication reports:

2004-2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

The post Of the thousands of abortions performed in Mississippi since 2004, just 40 have resulted in reported complications appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today is pleased to announce the soft launch of our first sister newsroom, Verite, a Black-led, mission-driven newsroom, which is set to begin publishing in the fall.  The New Orleans newsroom is the first step in plans for a network of local, independent newsrooms across the Southeast that center accountability and a community-first perspective.

Verite’s in-depth, data-based reporting will focus on solution-based coverage on crucial topics, such as education, housing, health care, criminal justice, the environment and politics — while centering the voices of communities that have been historically ignored and uplifting a region that has been left behind compared to similar national metropolitan areas.

“Local matters in the South, and we have searched high and low for the right local news leaders for our first expansion,” said Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White. “I could not be more confident about the talent we have on board for New Orleans.”    

Led by Executive Director David Francis (former EVP and publisher of NOLA.com|The Times-Picayune) and Editor-in-Chief Terry Baquet (former managing editor of Nola.com|The Times-Picayune) and Managing Editor Tim Morris (former political editor and columnist of The Times-Picayune), Verite aims to build a newsroom that’s founded on local trust, equity and a deeply rooted understanding of the vibrant cultures and information needs of the New Orleans metropolitan area. 

“Black and brown journalists continue to be overlooked and underrepresented in the newsroom,” said David Francis, Verite Executive Director. “At Verite we want our newsroom to be a platform for the community as well as for hiring and elevating journalists that reflect the diversity of the community, appreciate the New Orleans culture and understand the needs and perspectives of the city.” 

Through partnerships with HBCUs and other institutions, Verite will connect the dots between the classroom and their professional newsroom by offering internships, fellowships and mentorship for minority students training them to join the Verite mission. Recognizing that over 75% of newsroom employees are non-Hispanic whites, Verite’s investment will create a pipeline of talent across the country that can be shared and celebrated. 

“When we set out to create Verite, we wanted to fix the relationship gap and invest in human potential to uplift the new generation of reporters, editors and communicators from under-served communities,” said Terry Baquet, Verite Editor-in-Chief. “Maintaining our commitment to training these new reporters will add to their experience and help provide viewpoints in other markets. This approach is a cornerstone of our vision and will result in aiding all news outlets to better serve the greater community.”

Verite has received a grant from The Ford Foundation which will specifically support editorial planning, recruitment and the hiring of a top-notch team of journalists. Verite is also the recipient of a planning grant from the American Journalism Project that will provide tailored support including, 1:1 guidance, capacity building resources, peer learning opportunities and other tools to strengthen Verite’s business and revenue operations. 

For more information about donating or signing up for the Verite newsletter, please visit www.veritenews.org and follow along on Twitter @VeriteNewsNola

The post Verite News set to launch this fall in New Orleans appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says he believes that the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) is violating state law by turning patients away from the state’s only safety net hospital. 

The state insurance department, according to Chaney, has received numerous complaints from UMMC patients who have been told by their doctors that they cannot receive care at the hospital because they are insured by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi.

UMMC has been out of network with Blue Cross, the state’s largest insurer, since April 1 due to disagreements over reimbursement rates and Blue Cross’ quality care plan.

Chaney said that he believes UMMC turning away patients would violate Mississippi Code 37-115-31, which states that UMMC “shall be utilized to serve the people of Mississippi generally.”

“If you are the university hospital, you have a moral and ethical obligation to take care of Mississippians and a statutory requirement that you do so,” Chaney said.

Chaney said that his office has forwarded several of these allegations to UMMC and “other proper authorities that can enforce the law.”

Under federal law, public hospitals like UMMC may not deny a patient care based on the ability to pay or who the insurance provider is. UMMC and Blue Cross are still honoring in-network rates for Blue Cross patients who come into UMMC’s emergency room. Mississippi Today has not independently confirmed any instance of UMMC turning away a patient in an emergency situation. 

UMMC’s official policy is that each Blue Cross customer must sign a form that confirms the patient is aware that UMMC will not accept payment from Blue Cross for any elective services and that they will be responsible for their medical bills if they continue their care at the hospital. With Chaney’s allegations, it is unclear if this policy is being followed with each Blue Cross patient. 

“The problem is the people at the top that we deal with (at UMMC) are telling us one thing when what’s happening down at the bottom is totally different from what they’re telling us,” Chaney said. 

UMMC spokesperson Marc Rolph said the hospital had “no comment” on Chaney’s allegation that UMMC is violating state law. 

Federal law required UMMC to continue honoring in-network rates for certain patients for a 90-day period after it went out of network, but that “continuity of care” grace period expired on July 1. Since then, children with rare genetic conditions and transplant patients have been forced to seek their care out of state or switch to another insurer. 

Chaney has also previously alleged that without UMMC in its network, Blue Cross is violating network adequacy requirements. There are a litany of specialty services UMMC provides, such as its children’s cancer care program and transplant programs, that can’t be found anywhere else in the state. State law requires that Blue Cross customers have reasonable access to these services if the services are covered by their insurance plan.

Chaney launched a network adequacy review of Blue Cross on July 1, the results of which likely won’t be finalized or made publicly available for months. 

The post Insurance chief Mike Chaney says UMMC is violating state law in BCBS dispute appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves tried to keep the University of Southern Mississippi out of the state’s ongoing welfare scandal. Instead, with a controversial firing, Reeves focused the nation’s attention on the university.

Attorney Brad Pigott filed a July 11 subpoena on University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation regarding the $5 million it received to build a volleyball stadium — the single largest known purchase within the state’s massive welfare embezzlement scandal. About a week later, Pigott was fired by Reeves’ welfare agency.

READ MORE: State fires attorney probing former Gov. Phil Bryant in welfare scandal lawsuit

A former U.S. attorney, Pigott was hired to lead the agency’s civil lawsuit against dozens of people and entities in efforts to recoup up to $24 million in misspent or stolen federal welfare funds originally sent to Mississippi to help the state’s poorest residents, just a fraction of the overall $77 million scandal. That money, as we now know, ended up in the hands of welfare administrators and many of their high-profile friends who did little to nothing to help the state’s poor.

Pigott says his abrupt termination was politically motivated, that staffers in Reeves’ office had long wanted him to keep USM Athletic Foundation out of his civil lawsuit. The last thing Pigott did as head of the case was subpoena communications the USM athletic foundation had with former Gov. Phil Bryant and NFL quarterback Brett Favre — two people who have, up until the civil case, escaped public legal scrutiny in the scandal. Favre was sued civilly; Bryant was not.

“I believe I was fired as a result of a pattern of orders from the (current) Mississippi governor’s office concerning protecting an entity, called the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation, from any responsibility in this matter,” Pigott told the New York Times.

Reeves has not denied this assertion, and a statement from his appointed welfare director, which suggested that the subpoena prompted him to remove Pigott from the case, appears to confirm Pigott’s suspicion. The welfare agency said the subpoena was a surprise, but Mississippi Today published an email the newsroom obtained that showed Pigott sent the department a draft of the subpoena more than a week before filing it.

READ MORE: Welfare head says surprise subpoena led to attorney’s firing. Emails show it wasn’t a surprise.

The story has jarred the conscience of the state and nation. Mississippians have skeptically watched state leaders investigate the welfare scandal for more than three years now. Criminal charges originally filed in early 2020 have fallen squarely on six people further down the totem pole, but no one else has been arrested. The welfare department’s civil suit, filed in May, names 38 people or organizations. But Pigott’s firing calls into question the future of even that case. 

While carrying out an effort, apparently, to protect USM from being a main focus of the state’s investigation into the scandal, Reeves has ensured that Southern Miss is at the very focus of it. 

As taxpayers are rightfully wondering why Reeves would insert himself into this scandal he had previously been left out of, it is appropriate to dig into the only thing that has consistently driven him to move on anything: politics.

Reeves, like most successful statewide politicians, has long courted the sizable Southern Miss voting bloc. The Hattiesburg university is the third largest in Mississippi, and the most recent data published by the USM Alumni Association lists 75,000 active alumni in the state of Mississippi — close to 10% of the state’s total gubernatorial cycle electorate.

Reeves’ electoral performance in south Mississippi, where USM alumni are most concentrated, quite likely won him the Governor’s Mansion in 2019. Reeves picked up 23% of his total statewide vote share in Hattiesburg and south. A key to that Pine Belt and Gulf Coast success was his full-breathed support from local elected officials, many of whom are USM alumni.

Importantly for Reeves, one of the most successful political fundraiser in Mississippi history, USM support comes with plenty of political cash. Mississippi Today reviewed the governor’s campaign contributions and found sizable donations from at least 11 USM Athletic Foundation board members.

And several people on the foundation’s board are either direct beneficiaries or known investigation targets of the welfare scheme.

Zach New, who pleaded guilty to state and federal embezzlement charges related to misspending federal grant funds, sits on the USM Athletic Foundation board. Both Zach New and his mother Nancy New, who sat on the athletic foundation’s board before her son replaced her, have donated modestly to Reeves’ campaigns since at least 2015.

Together, the News ran a nonprofit that received and was tasked to administer federal welfare funding to programs that would help the needy. But they instead steered much of it to friends and celebrities, such as Favre and another football star Marcus Dupree, and even diverted $5 million in welfare funding to the USM Athletic Foundation for the volleyball center at their alma mater. 

Reeves has long been in the News’ orbit, recording an education commercial for his gubernatorial campaign in mid-2019 at the special needs school the News owned in Jackson — where, at that time, they were running a separate federal fraud scheme to which they have since pleaded guilty.

At the end of 2019 and early 2020, when the News sensed they would soon face criminal charges, the Reeves administration was poised to take office. Several times, according to text messages obtained by Mississippi Today, they turned to Reeves’ incoming chief of staff, among other powerful political sources, for help. Reeves’ former chief of staff told Mississippi Today the incoming administration steered clear of assisting the News.

NFL legend and USM alumnus Brett Favre, who was close with the News and publicly took credit for a multi-million dollar donation that helped build the volleyball center, also sits on the USM Athletic Foundation board. Favre endorsed Reeves in 2019, calling the future governor “a friend and family man who is committed to making our state a better place.” Deanna Favre, the quarterback’s wife, wrote Reeves a $2,500 check just days before the 2019 governor’s election.

The quarterback also attended a Reeves fundraiser in July 2019 — a couple months before Reeves faced a crowded GOP primary for governor.

Another USM Athletic Foundation board member is Poncho James, a close acquaintance of Favre’s who invested at least tens of thousands in the so far fruitless experimental pharmaceutical company called Prevacus that Favre was backing and that received welfare funding. James hosted that Hattiesburg fundraiser for Reeves in 2019, where Favre snapped the picture with Reeves and Bryant. James also wrote the future governor a $2,500 check for that race.

James, according to text messages obtained by Mississippi Today investigative reporter Anna Wolfe, believed that getting Reeves elected in 2019 could help their concussion drug venture.

Tommy Duff, one of the state’s few billionaires, also sits on the USM Athletic Foundation board. He is president of the board of trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning, which voted to approve the lease that allowed for Nancy New and her nonprofit to pay the athletic foundation $5 million to build the volleyball facility, according to the board’s meeting minutes. 

Duff has given Reeves at least $32,000 for his campaigns since 2011. In recent months, however, the two have reportedly fallen out. Duff, who typically writes a sizable check to Reeves each year, last gave to the governor’s campaign in 2020.

Rodney Bennett, former president of University of Southern Mississippi, sat until recently on the USM Athletic Foundation board. Bennett wrote Reeves’ campaign a $1,000 check in 2019 and another $1,000 check in 2020. 

Other USM Athletic Foundation board members have given Reeves large campaign contributions over the years. Chuck Scianna, a Texas businessman, wrote Reeves a $25,000 check in 2018, a $10,000 check in 2020, and another $10,000 check in 2021. Hattiesburg businessman and board member “Abb” Payne has given Reeves at least $22,500 since 2015. Joe Quinlan, a bank executive and foundation board member, wrote Reeves a $5,000 check in 2019.

Clare Hester, one of the state’s most high-powered lobbyists, represents the Southern Miss Athletic Foundation. Hester and Reeves have long had a close working relationship, with the lobbyist giving Reeves at least $40,000 in campaign contributions.

For his part, Reeves is not coy about his relationship with USM. He regularly travels to Hattiesburg to announce government grants or projects, and he attends sporting events.

Time will tell how those USM supporters and alumni feel about how Reeves has handled the events of the past few days — and whether state or federal investigators will focus even more attention on the USM Athletic Foundation.

“All I did, and I believe all that caused me to be terminated from representing the department or having anything to do with the litigation, was to try to get the truth about all of that,” Pigott told Mississippi Today hours after his firing. “People are going to go to jail over this, at least the state should be willing to find out the truth of what happened.”

The post Gov. Tate Reeves tried to keep USM out of the welfare scandal. He instead made it the focus. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Oxford police presented little on-the-record evidence other than the word of a detective to obtain a warrant to arrest Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., a recent Ole Miss graduate, for the first-degree murder of Jimmie “Jay” Lee, according to an affidavit obtained by Mississippi Today.

The sparse evidence in the affidavit – one of the few documents publicly available at this stage of the case – is not unusual in Mississippi, legal experts and defense attorneys say. 

Since Herrington’s arrest Friday, the Oxford Police Department has not released any new details regarding probable cause or a potential motive in the case, leaving members of the public to search for answers. Police have stated in press releases that they believe Lee, a Black student who was well-known in Oxford’s LGBTQ community, was visiting someone at Molly Barr Trails, a student housing complex, on the day he was killed. 

It’s unclear who Lee was visiting, and police have yet to find his body. 

The Lafayette County District Attorney’s Office did not return calls on Tuesday. Kevin Horan, Herrington’s attorney and a state representative, was not available for comment. Carlos Moore, Herrington’s uncle by marriage who is also retained in the case, told WREG Herrington is innocent.

The affidavit, obtained by Mississippi Today, shows OPD detective Ryan Baker swore an oath in Lafayette County Justice Court that Herrington “did feloniously, willfully and unlawfully with deliberate design to effect the death of Jimmie Dale Lee III” on July 8. The affidavit does not describe the evidence that led Baker to this conclusion.

Baker took that oath on Friday, July 22, and Judge Mickey Avent issued the warrant that led to Herrington’s arrest that day. Police announced the arrest at 6:51 p.m., and Herrington was booked at the Lafayette County Detention Center at 8:13 p.m. He was held without bond over the weekend. 

In Mississippi, affidavits contain law enforcement’s conclusion, or theory, of the case, said Matt Steffey, a law professor at Mississippi College who helped write the state criminal procedures. The documents typically do not present an explanation of the underlying facts in the case. 

“It’d be nice, wouldn’t it, for all those things to be on the record,” Steffey said. “That has not been the arc of development of criminal procedure in our state today.”  

Steffey called the level of detail in the affidavit in Herrington’s case “very thin” but “not dramatically out of line with other affidavits I’ve seen.” 

Judges can deny warrants if they believe police need to present more evidence. In fact, the state’s criminal procedures encourage judges to probe the police’s theory of the case. State code says that judges “should not accept without question the … mere conclusion that the person whose arrest is sought has committed a crime.” 

Steffey said that Baker may have provided Avent with more evidence in verbal testimony – but the public may not know, because justice court proceedings are not transcribed in Mississippi. 

The evidence that police had to obtain the warrant to arrest Herrington could factor into his bond hearing tomorrow if his attorney requests a preliminary hearing, local defense attorneys say.

Herrington is charged with first-degree murder, also known as simple or plain murder in Mississippi. The state Constitution gives judges discretion to revoke or impose bond, but first-degree murder is typically a “bailable” offense. 

The prosecution is arguing that Herrington should be denied bond. In a motion submitted on Friday, Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Kilpatrick wrote that Herrington should be held without bond because he is a threat to the community and a “profound” flight risk. 

Kilpatrick also argued that Herrington should be held because he could be charged with capital murder, which is typically not a bailable offense in Mississippi. 

“Specifically, the Defendant at this time is charged with what is commonly known as ‘simple murder’ at this point in time based on the evidence available as of writing this Motion,” Kilpatrick wrote. “Clearly the Defendant will be facing Capital Murder charges if evidence of such is discovered. As of now, Jay Lee’s body has not been recovered.”

David Hill, a defense attorney in Oxford, said that prosecutors would have a greater chance of preventing Herrington from receiving bail if they’d first charged him with capital murder, not first-degree.

“If they anticipate he’s facing capital murder charges, they should charge him with capital murder,” Hill said, “because if the proof is evident and the presumption is great, he can’t get bail.” 

Lee’s disappearance and Herrington’s arrest has hit national headlines, fueling speculation in Oxford and across the country. On social media, some users have searched through Lee’s accounts for clues, trying to piece together a narrative in the absence of more information from the police. 

Steffey, the law professor, said local police may be withholding information from the public to help the prosecution’s case. 

“Public transparency is a secondary value at this point to an effective prosecution,” Steffey said. “They may have a reason for not giving out more information – they may worry it’s going to risk destruction of evidence, or loss of witnesses, or who knows. Or there could be no reason.” 

Since Lee’s disappearance is such a high-profile case, Steffey said the public might expect more transparency from law enforcement than the standard case. He has pushed for more sunshine in Mississippi’s justice system as a contributor to the state’s criminal procedures. 

“I argued for more transcripts records and transparency at every stage and was often met with, ‘That’s not the way we do things, that won’t work outside big cities,’” he said. “The law is a change resistant profession.” 

The post Sparse affidavit offers few new details in Jay Lee case, but legal experts say that’s not unusual  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Brad Pigott’s dismissal is getting national attention.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Spiked appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippians can now pick up free COVID-19 self-tests from their county health department. 

Under the program, each family can receive eight BinaxNow rapid tests each month. No doctor’s note or documentation is needed, though the recipient’s name, number of tests and zip code will be logged. The tests can be picked up during regular health department hours without an appointment. 

The number of tests each county health department received was based on the county’s population and the number of days the clinic is open. Each county health department can order more tests as often as necessary.

Liz Sharlot, director of communications at MSDH, said that the free test program has been in the works for the last few months and that the health department is “filling a public health gap and need by providing these home tests to the community.”

The move to supply free tests to Mississippians will help ease the financial barrier to at-home testing, as a pack of two self tests typically costs around $20.

This move by the health department comes as Mississippi faces another surge in COVID-19 infections. The state was seeing an average of 105 new infections each day at the beginning of May, but is now seeing an average of 1,445. Hospitalizations have also increased by more than 50% over the past month. 

The MSDH program is similar to a federal free test program, where USPS will ship eight tests to any home in the U.S. A third round of free at-home tests can be ordered at COVIDtests.gov.

The post Free COVID-19 tests now available at county health departments appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported the first case of Monkeypox in Mississippi on Monday. 

The infected individual is a Mississippi resident and the infection was confirmed at the Mississippi State Department of Health Public Health Laboratory. The health department said that it is currently trying to identify people who may have encountered the infected person. 

Over the past few weeks, the Monkeypox virus has spread to dozens of countries and infected thousands. As of July 22, there were nearly 2,900 Monkeypox cases nationally, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. Nearly all infections outside Africa have occurred among men who have sex with men.

Mississippi was one of the few remaining states with no reported cases before Monday. MSDH has received a limited number of doses of a Monkeypox vaccine that the department says will be used to treat individuals the department identifies who have been exposed to Monkeypox.

The monkeypox virus, which is part of the same family of viruses as smallpox, has not caused any deaths yet, but does produce painful symptoms.

Symptoms of monkeypox can include: Fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. Infected persons often experience a rash that looks like pimples, or blisters that appear on many parts of the body. The illness typically lasts for two to four weeks.

Transmission often occurs through close skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. Airborne transmission also occurs during prolonged close contact with an infected person.

The World Health Organization declared Monkeypox a global public health emergency on June 23, the first time it has taken this step  since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Monkeypox, COVID-19 and polio are the only diseases that have this designation.

The post First case of Monkeypox identified in Mississippi appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Caden LeMieux is lying in a bed at Hermann Memorial Hospital in Houston, Texas, more than 500 miles away from his home, his mother and the majority of his friends and family in Neshoba County. 

He’s 450 miles from the doctors and nurses at the University of Mississippi Medical Center he’s been seeing for more than a year for primary sclerosing cholangitis, a serious and long-term liver disease that has been treated at Mississippi’s only organ transplant center. 

The 28-year-old was admitted to UMMC July 7 following excruciating stomach pain and high levels of bilirubin, which caused his skin and eyes to turn yellow. LeMieux, who is 6’2, usually weighs somewhere in the 130-pound range, but weight kept coming off.

He was told he was in active liver failure and needed a transplant imminently. But UMMC couldn’t do it, his doctor said. The reason: the hospital’s ongoing contract dispute with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, which left the state’s largest hospital out of network with its largest private insurer since April 1. 

While the two parties are currently in mediation, there is no resolution in sight.

“They (the UMMC doctors and nurses) tried their best to find a loophole around it … the best they could,” said LeMieux, who has Blue Cross through his stepmother’s Texas plan. “They couldn’t come up with anything.”

LeMieux’s mother Cristi Montgomery described the difficulty of that moment. 

“I tell you, they were teary-eyed because they knew it wasn’t fair,” Montgomery said of the doctors and nurses who’d been taking care of LeMieux at UMMC. 

“I really didn’t want to leave (UMMC),” LeMieux said on Monday, a day after undergoing a procedure to drain fluid from his lungs to allow him to breathe more easily. “It’s been a lot of nights I’ve gotten overwhelmed.”

Neither UMMC nor Blue Cross responded to requests for comment for this story by the time of publication. 

Montgomery said the dispute between UMMC and Blue Cross has forced her son out of his comfort zone in a trying time.

“You’re having to meet people that you’re not comfortable with, establish new relationships — we ain’t got time for that. We’re sick enough, don’t take us out of our comfort zone,” said Montgomery. 

UMMC and Blue Cross are butting heads over reimbursement rates and the insurance company’s quality care plan. UMMC, the state’s only academic medical center and safety net hospital, is asking Blue Cross for substantial increases in its reimbursement rates. Blue Cross officials say this is unreasonable and would necessitate an increase in members’ premiums.

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has issued calls for the two parties to come to an agreement to no avail. He recently informed Blue Cross his department will be conducting a target market conduct examination of the insurer to determine whether it is compliant with the state’s network adequacy regulations, which require insurers to provide adequate in-network care to customers.  

LeMieux made the nine-hour drive to Houston just over a week ago. His mother drove him from Jackson to Baton Rouge, where his father, who lives in Houston, met them. He finished out the ride with his dad and was back in the hospital the next day.

LeMieux was fortunately still considered an active patient at Hermann Memorial Hospital after living there with his father several years ago. His family thought he would only be in the Houston hospital temporarily and then return to his father’s house to wait for a liver to become available. Doctors have since decided he’s too sick to leave, and he will have to stay in the hospital until his transplant. 

Until then, he and his loved ones play a waiting game. He will have to spend an additional 10 days in the hospital after receiving the transplant — assuming there are no complications — and then will have to remain in the Houston area for at least a year. His transplant follow-up care will include twice-weekly clinic visits with the goal of eventually reducing the frequency. 

But LeMieux, Montgomery, and Colville LeMieux, Caden’s father, aren’t looking that far ahead yet. They’re focused on the immediate situation. They feel lucky to have the support and prayers of their community, Montgomery said. 

But they can’t help but wonder.

“I asked the hospital, ‘What if his daddy hadn’t lived there? We would have to go live in Houston or go to UAB or Ochsner’s?’ Of course you want to do what’s best for your kids, but let’s be real, we own our own businesses, we don’t have any vacation time, we can’t just take off,” said Montgomery, who runs a bakery in Philadelphia with her husband. 

Colville LeMieux, Caden’s father, had a similar take: “I don’t know what we would’ve done if we hadn’t had him under care here at a Houston doctor also. What is a person supposed to do?”

On Monday, Montgomery started the drive to Houston. She doesn’t know how long she’ll be there or how her bakery in Neshoba County will stay afloat in the coming weeks and months. But she does know she needs to be with her son.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Either you trust God or you don’t,’ but that’s all we have is to trust and believe and take it one day at a time. When Caden’s nine hours away and he sends you a message that says, ‘I’m scared,’ and then calls and he’s crying …” she trailed off. 

“It’s just a lot. But you still do what you have to do.”

The post This Mississippian needs a new liver. The state’s only transplant hospital can’t give it to him. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Editor’s note: On July 30, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame inducts its Class of 2022. What follows is Part V of a series detailing the achievements of the eight inductees, today featuring World Series champion Barry Lyons.

When Barry Lyons made the Major Leagues as a New York Mets catcher in 1986, naturally he felt as if he represented his beloved hometown of Biloxi and his treasured alma mater Delta State. But there were people even more dear to his heart Lyons was representing.

Says Lyons, “What brought so much joy to me was when I put on that Mets uniform was I felt like I was putting it on for the entire Lyons family, my father and my mother and my three older brothers. When I put on that New York Mets uniform, I was representing all of them.”

There’s a story behind the story there. Barry’s father, Kenny Lyons Sr., was a baseball man. He had played in high school before serving in the U.S. Navy.

Kenny Sr. never went to college. He became mail deliverer and then coached all four of his sons in youth baseball. As it turned out all four sons were standout athletes, each with professional potential.

“I was the caboose,” Barry Lyons says. “All my brothers had the ability to make the Big Leagues. Because of injuries and bad luck and whatever for my brothers, I was the one who finally made it. That meant so much to me.”

Kenny Lyons Jr., the oldest of the sons, might have been the most gifted. A football and baseball star in high school, Kenny seemed well on his way to being the next Archie Manning at Ole Miss before a shoulder separation and then a gruesome knee injury changed that.

Here’s how good Kenny Lyons Jr. was in baseball: Because he was a quarterback competing for the job as starter, he didn’t play baseball until his fourth year at Ole Miss after the injuries. And still, he hit .298 with power and was one of the Rebels’ best players.

Next behind Kenny came Tommy Lyons, a hard-throwing pitcher drafted out of high school by the Cleveland Indians. “Tommy had an incredible arm,” Barry says. “They weren’t using the radar guns back then, but I’ve seen a lot of hard throwers in my day and Tommy was right at the top.”

The Indians badly wanted Tommy Lyons, but Kenny Lyons Sr., who never went to college, insisted all his sons to have a college education. Tommy followed Kenny to Ole Miss, but injuries to his pitching arm curtailed his carer.

Pat Lyons, the third son born to Kenneth and Germaine Lyons, was another pitcher who doubled as an offensive lineman in football. He played both sports in high school and for Gulf Coast Community College, eventually earning a scholarship to Morehead State in Kentucky. A knee injury ended Pat’s athletic career.

Then came Barry, a superb football offensive lineman and baseball catcher. Barry first went to Delta State on a football scholarship, with the agreement he could also play baseball. Once Boo Ferriss, the Delta State baseball coach, saw Barry Lyons catch and hit, he offered him a full baseball scholarship. Barry, who liked football, loved baseball and adored Boo Ferriss, went the baseball route becoming one of Delta State’s all-time greats and making All-Gulf South Conference all four seasons. He helped the Statesmen to the Division II World Series as a senior. Back then, Delta State played about half its games against Division I teams and regularly defeated teams such as Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Alabama. 

Drafted by the Mets, Barry Lyons quickly moved through the various minor league levels, making the biggest splash for the Class AA Jackson Mets at Smith-Wills Stadium, where he was one of the most productive players in the history of that franchise. He led the ’85 Jackson Mets to the Texas League championship. He hit .308, knocked in 108 runs and was named the New York Mets’ Minor League Player of the Year. Next stop: New York and Shea Stadium, and it didn’t take long.

Lyons won a job with the parent club in spring training the next spring. When the New York Mets played their last exhibition game against the Jackson Mets at Smith-Wills, Lyons caught the game, got the biggest cheers and got a hit as well. Those New York Mets went on to win the World Series, and Barry Lyons got a World Series ring, later lost to Hurricane Katrina. Making it all the more memorable for Lyons: The Mets issued him jersey No. 33, the jersey number of Ferriss, his Delta State coach and Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer.

Lyons wound up playing 10 seasons in professional baseball and played for four different Major League teams. His baseball life continued with minor league coaching and managing jobs and a several years-long quest to bring professional baseball to the Gulf Coast and his home town of Biloxi.

But Barry Lyons has endured more than his share of misfortune, including losing a house and belongings to Katrina, the death of Pat Lyons, the brother closest to him in age, his own bout with alcoholism and drug abuse, and a divorce.

Through the grace of God and his wife, the former Julie Pinson, Lyons says, he has turned his life around. He has realized his dream of helping bring professional baseball to his hometown and serves the Class AA Biloxi Shuckers as the team’s paid ambassador, representing the team in the community and “doing anything and everything I can to raise the profile of my hometown’s professional baseball team.”

For Lyons, it’s a dream come true in a life of many baseball dreams that came true.

•••

The 2022 Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Induction Class includes Tyler, golfer/golf commentator Jim Gallagher, football great Eric Moulds, world swimming champion Maggie Bowen-Hanna, basketball coach Kermit Davis, Sr., baseball standouts Barry Lyons and David Dellucci, and football coach Willis Wright.

Part I: Maggie Bowen-Hanna.

Part II: Eric Moulds.

Part III: Jim Gallagher.

Part IV: Bob Tyler.

For MSHOF Induction Weekend event and ticket information, click here. 

The post What made the Big Leagues special for Barry Lyons was his family appeared first on Mississippi Today.