House calls may be the future of health care in Florida

Dr. Elizabeth Malko remembers when she was a young girl and doctors still made house calls. “When I had the measles, he came to the home, that was the norm,” said Malko, vice president of medical solutions and chief medical officer of Florida Blue Medicare. She’s come full circle. Florida Blue Medicare, the state’s Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare plan, is now allowing some members to choose PopHealthCare’s home care provider Emcara Health as their primary care physician, Malko said. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

COVID-19 antiviral pills: How to enroll in South Florida study and who’s eligible

South Florida researchers are studying whether an antiviral pill approved to be used on people who have COVID-19 also can be used to prevent someone from getting infected. Three South Florida clinics are participating in the trial that looks at the safety and effectiveness of taking Merck’s molnupiravir when someone is exposed to COVID-19 by a person in their household, including a child. To qualify, trial participants 18 or older need to arrive within five days of being exposed, and they must be unvaccinated and have not had COVID-19. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Administrative law judge sides with marijuana doctor accused in an undercover sting

A Tallahassee doctor who ordered medical marijuana for two undercover investigators posing as patients didn’t do anything wrong, an administrative law judge decided last week. The Florida Department of Health sought to strip physician Joseph Dorn of his medical license for five years, permanently ban him from ordering medical marijuana for patients and impose a $10,000 fine. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Network Eye opens nation's first subspecialty healthcare clinic within a major retailer

Network Eye has become the nation’s first-ever sub-specialty eye clinic located inside a major retailer with the opening of a clinic inside a Tampa CVS pharmacy, a pilot project for a new model of improving access to health care and addressing equity issues. The clinic offers both testing and physician-provided treatment and serves patients at risk for diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration, two leading causes of blindness in the U.S. [Source: Florida Trend]

Tobacco industry gets win at Florida Supreme Court

In what a dissenting justice called a “fundamental shift,” the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling that likely will make it harder for many plaintiffs suing tobacco companies about smoking-related illnesses. The 6-1 ruling dealt with plaintiffs in a large group of cases — known as “Engle progeny” cases — and claims that tobacco companies fraudulently concealed or conspired to conceal information about the health effects and addictiveness of smoking. [Source: News Service of Florida]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› $700 million in state funding will help Moffitt build massive cancer complex in Pasco County [Health News Florida]
An ambitious plan to build a massive cancer treatment center and research park on 775 acres in Pasco County received a major boost from Florida legislators this week. In the budget that they forwarded to the governor on Monday, lawmakers awarded a total of $706 million to Moffitt Cancer Center over the next 30 years to help the nonprofit build a life sciences innovation district on vacant land just east of the Suncoast Parkway and south of State Road 52.

› South Florida doctors, volunteers step up to help Ukrainian victims in Moldova [CBS Miami]
Over 2 million Ukrainians have left their homes looking for safety and medical care since Russian troops began their invasion of the European nation. Local doctors and volunteers from the Miami Chapter of United Hatzalah, a non-profit medical service organization, have been in Moldova for the past three weeks saving the lives of those who have been injured or displaced.

› Hospital networks strive to stay step ahead of nursing shortage [WPTV]
Florida hospitals are pushing to recruit and retain nurses to try and fill a big gap in our community in an effort to avoid shortages. As a recent Florida Atlantic University graduate, Mia Garcia is new to nursing. "I just received my degree in December," she said. Garcia now works as a labor and delivery nurse at St. Mary's Medical Center. "I feel like because of the shortage, nurses are definitely needed a lot right now," she said.

› WHO's fight against cervical cancer comes to Miami's Little Haiti [WLRN]
More than 300,000 women around the world die from cervical cancer each year, but the disease is preventable. And the World Health Organization has launched a plan to eradicate it. The WHO has asked health providers, including the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, to help people access screenings, treatment and vaccinations in places where cervical cancer rates remain high.