Patients here will pay one of the highest tax rates for medical marijuana among the 30 states that currently offer it if State Question 788 is approved by voters this month, according to an Oklahoma Watch analysis.
Getting Pregnant, Getting Fired: Discrimination Cases Persist Despite 40-Year-Old Law
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Forty years after Congress passed landmark legislation to prevent employers from discriminating on the basis of pregnancy or childbirth, complaints in Oklahoma of such treatment continue.
From the Case Files: Pregnancy Discrimination Claims
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Allegations of pregnancy discrimination involve a variety of jobs and behaviors. Here are some examples of Oklahoma cases filed in federal court or with the EEOC offices.
Laws Keep Mentally Ill From Buying Guns, But Gun Suicides Continue Apace
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Nearly 58 percent of Oklahoma’s suicides last year involved firearms. Mental-health experts say that so-called “red flag” laws, which allow police to even temporarily confiscate guns if a person poses a risk to themselves or others, could help lower the state’s stubbornly high suicide rate.
Higher Payments to Doctors Behind State’s Rescue of Medical Schools
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A dispute between Oklahoma and federal agencies over relatively high payments for hundreds of doctors who treat Medicaid patients is a key reason state taxpayers are on the hook for $140 million in emergency funds for the state’s two medical schools, records obtained by Oklahoma Watch show.
Turmoil Continues at Health Department as Commissioner Abruptly Resigns
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The Oklahoma State Department of Health is looking for a new interim commissioner after Preston Doerflinger abruptly resigned Tuesday.
Only a Handful of Prison Inmates Get Treatment for Deadly Disease
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Inmates in Oklahoma prisons must have advanced liver disease before becoming eligible for treatment that cures hepatitis C, a potentially deadly and growing disease. Since July 1, only five inmates have been given the drug treatment.
Exec Who Caught Health Department’s Problems Resigns, Citing Conflicts of Interest in Agency
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The chief financial officer of the state Health Department, who helped bring the agency’s accounting irregularities to light, abruptly resigned Thursday, citing conflicts of interest and a disagreement with the interim health commissioner.
The Case for and Against Tapping the Tobacco Fund to Bolster State Services
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With another budget shortfall looming, lawmakers are eyeing the $1.1 billion Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, raising questions about constitutional limitations and the effectiveness of the agency’s public health education campaigns.
Health Agency ‘Bloat’ Included Fallin Effort to Remake Public Health
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The Oklahoma State Department of Health and Gov. Mary Fallin set out to reshape strategies for markedly improving Oklahomans’ health. There was just one problem: The money to pay for them started to run out.
Oklahomans in Need Could Pay the Price for Health Department Crisis
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News about the financial crisis at the Oklahoma State Department of Health has focused lately on accounting schemes and questions of oversight. Getting less attention is what the debacle could mean for public health.