Opioid spat: Gov. John Bel Edwards unveiled health data today to shoot back at state Attorney General Jeff Landry’s recent criticisms of Medicaid expansion. At issue is whether the expanded health program for the poor—part of the Affordable Care Act—has exacerbated Louisiana’s opioid crisis, as Landry claimed. Edwards argued in a news release today that the claims are false, citing a 2% reduction in the number of opioid prescriptions since the expansion of Medicaid. The spat is the latest in a string of public battles between the Democratic governor and Republican AG. Edwards has repeatedly defended Medicaid expansion as a good move amid talks of dismantling the ACA and rolling back the program.
Academic honor: An LSU researcher who is considered a top specialist in physical activity behaviors and motor skill competency in children has been named a Fulbright Scholar and will travel to the Czech Republic this month, LSU announced today. Elizabeth “Kip” Webster, of the LSU School of Kinesiology, says she will share her research with a distinguished group of researchers with similar interests. The Fulbright Specialist Program—the product of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs—gives U.S. academics and professionals the opportunity to do two- to six-week consultancies at host institutions throughout the world.
Alabama tumult: In the span of one tumultuous afternoon, a low-profile special election in Alabama for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions became a Republican nightmare, the Associated Press reports. Roy Moore, a 70-year-old former state Supreme Court justice running for the seat, was slammed with allegations of decades-old sexual misconduct in a Washington Post story. Moore defiantly denied the allegations, but the revelations triggered sharp backlash from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who called on Moore to step aside if the allegations were true. Read the full story from AP, and read the Washington Post report here.
