Month: February 2019

Alleged South Philly Rapist

NBC10 1

The city’s health department also would not comment on Williams’ status, but said in a statement that “all the victims who have come forward are being offered the appropriate counseling and medical care.”

“We urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual assault to seek the proper medical care,” a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said in an emailed statement.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/HIV-South-Philadelphia-Sexual-Assault-Rape-Suspect-Safien-Williams-City-Worker-506515821.html

By Alicia Lozano

NBC10 2

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health did not comment on the Williams case, but said in a statement that “all the victims who have come forward are being offered the appropriate counseling and medical care.”

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philadelphia-Mayor-Jim-Kenney-Confirms-South-Philadelphia-Serial-Rape-Suspect-Safien-Williams-Has-HIV-506550111.html

By Alicia Lozano

Soda Consumption by Philadelphia Youth

The Philadelphia Health Department says soda consumption among teens has been dropping dramatically.

In Tuesday’s report, the city says between 2015 and 2017 the proportion of teens drinking soda weekly in Philadelphia dropped by 10 percent, as compared to just two percent nationally.

There was an 18 percent drop in Philadelphia teens drinking soda daily and a 30 percent drop in teens who drank three or more a day.

https://6abc.com/food/soda-consumption-among-philly-teens-dropping-dramatically-report-says/5158956/

Family Frustrated by Undetermined Cause of Death

Despite the family’s years of lobbying for a second forensic examination by the medical examiner, James Garrow, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Public Health, said there was not enough new information for the office to reopen the investigation into Malik’s death.

https://www.philly.com/news/pennsylvania/nadia-malik-west-philadelphia-death-five-years-later-mystery-20190222.html

By Vinny Vella

Synthetic Cannabinoids

“The best we can say is not to use a lot,” said Allison Herens, the city’s harm reduction coordinator. “The chemical makeup is so unpredictable. So we say, ‘Use a little bit, see how you feel, take it with people [around you], stay hydrated.’”

https://www.philly.com/news/k-drug-synthetic-cannabinoid-suburban-station-police-philadelphia-homeless-20190221.html

By Jason Laughlin and Aubrey Whelan

Glass Impalement Death

Fox 29

the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the manner of death accidental and the cause of death to be a sharp injury to the abdomen.

http://www.fox29.com/news/mother-mourns-the-loss-of-4-year-old-son-who-died-after-falling-on-picture-frame

By Kelly Rule

Patch

The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Ortega’s death an accident with the cause being sharp injury to the abdomen.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/boy-4-dies-after-being-impaled-glass-philadelphia-police

By Max Bennett

CBS3

Sources tell Eyewitness News the medical examiner has ruled Adrian Ortega’s death an accident.

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/02/21/4-year-old-boy-killed-after-being-impaled-by-glass-from-shattered-picture-frame-police-say/

 

PrEP Campaign

And the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health recently launched a new sexual health marketing campaign to promote the HIV prevention pill called “Philly, Keep On Loving.”

“With an HIV rate four times the national rate, increasing the use of PrEP is necessary to end the HIV epidemic in Philadelphia,” stated Dr. Kathleen Brady, medical director and medical epidemiologist for the Department’s AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) in a news release.

https://www.phillytrib.com/news/health/advocates-push-for-black-women-to-be-informed-about-prep/article_5b260798-b534-50eb-b9b2-993c40e2c8e7.html

By Ayana Jones

Safety in Administering Narcan

Then, a surprise: In the last quarter of last year, the number treated for overdoses by EMS dropped about 50 percent from the previous quarter. That drop reflects the widespread availability of Narcan, speculates Philadelphia Health Department spokesperson Jim Garrow. Calls to 911 are falling, he tells me, because so many people are carrying and administering Narcan.

https://www.philly.com/news/columnists/narcan-overdose-ems-emt-paramedic-ed-marks-diane-pellecchia-stu-bykofsky-drug-20190219.html

By Stu Bykofski

White House HIV Plan

But Tom Farley, Philadelphia’s public health commissioner, isn’t impressed.

“We’re glad that the administration is talking about eliminating HIV infection,” Farley said. “That’s certainly important. Our question is, really, what’s new about this plan? And that’s not clear.”

https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-to-receive-hiv-funding-under-new-trump-plan-to-eliminate-virus-by-2030/

By Dana Bate