Florida
Florida pharmacies to help fight HIV epidemic
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Florida has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the country. Starting this summer, a new law will make it easier to get treated before someone is infected.
“We know PEP access and expanding that access is a critical component to ending the HIV epidemic in Florida,” Equality Florida Public Policy Director Jon Harris Maurer said.
Nearly 125,000 people across Florida are living with HIV, according to the state health department. Under a new law, pharmacists will be able to screen someone who might have been exposed to HIV and offer prevention medication. This method of treatment, often known as PEP, is effective at preventing HIV if taken within 72 hours of exposure.
“We know how difficult it can be for folks to get into care, to find a primary physician who’s taking new patients. Let alone one who has expertise in PEP and HIV issues,” Maurer said.
Thousands of pharmacies across the state are already part of an agreement that will help expand access to care.
“This is an emergency situation that people aren’t aware of so educating the public is going to be very important in this process,” Florida Retail Federation Vice President of Government Affairs Angela Bonds said.
Rep. Gallop Franklin, (D) Tallahassee, said offering this service at neighborhood pharmacies helps the entire community.
“It helps them live longer productive lives, brings down the burden of the entire health care system, and people can still enjoy life and live a long time without fear of contracting a disease,” Rep. Franklin said.
Pharmacists will be able to start screening for HIV and begin this treatment when the law takes effect on July 1. Primary care doctors still handle preventative medications known as PrEP.
Copyright 2024 WCTV. All rights reserved.
Florida
Florida mother Destiny Byassee killed when fake airbags ‘detonated like a grenade,’ lawsuit alleges
A young Florida mother was killed last year when her car’s counterfeit airbag “detonated like a grenade,” according to a lawsuit.
Destiny Byassee’s used 2020 Chevy Malibu passed through multiple conmen before its fake emergency airbags deployed in a June frontal collision, causing a blast that “shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout” the car, her family alleges.
“Several fragments from the blast struck Ms. Byassee in the face, head, and neck, ultimately killing her,” stated the complaint, obtained by Law & Crime.
The 22-year-old “was a mother of two young children and had her entire life ahead of her,” attorney John Morgan, who is also representing the family, said in a news release.
According to the lawsuit, Byassee bought the doomed sedan from DriveTime, a national used car company, without being given a full history of the car.
The former Enterprise Rent-A-Car car was involved in a devastating September 2022 crash that caused damage that “was so significant that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from service,” the lawsuit alleges.
Rather than scrap the vehicle, Enterprise allegedly sold the car to DriveTime through Manheim Auctions, Inc., which bills itself as the largest wholesale automobile auction company in the world.
It was then repaired at Jumbo Automotive in Hollywood, Florida, the complaint continues, claiming that shop owner Haim Levy “purchased counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components” by a Chinese company to replace the Chevrolet factory airbag “and proceeded to install these components into the subject Chevy Malibu.”
Not only were the dangerous fake bags used, but Levy allegedly repaired the deployed seatbelt pretensioner — the part of a complete system that tightens the belt during a crash — incorrectly, but in a cunning way that made it appear to work properly.
Byassee “had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly and illegally repaired,” her family said.
Both the counterfeit airbag and faulty seatbelt pretensioner “were signaled to deploy” during the June 2023 collision, according to the lawsuit.
“However, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner was inoperable, the pretensioner did not deploy as originally designed,” the lawsuit states. “Worse, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side airbag system included counterfeit and non-compliant components, the airbag detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.”
The filing pointedly said that photographs depicted the “horrifying event,” including one of the “shredded and blood-soaked front driver-side airbag.”
Cathy King, Byassee’s grandmother, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 6- and 4-year-old children the young woman left behind, as well as her husband and mother.
Byassee “believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle, but our lawsuit alleges that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should’ve been a totaled vehicle, all just to make money,” Morgan said in the release.
“Because of that, Ms. Byassee lost her life, and her children will grow up without their mother.”
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial on 14 various counts against the various defendants – including strict liability, negligence and deceptive trade practices.
Neither Enterprise, Manheim, DriveTime nor Jumbo Automotive immediately answered The Post’s request for comment.
Florida
Don Moreland inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Hall of Fame
OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) – A former Marion County Sheriff was inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Hall of Fame today.
Former sheriff Don Moreland got emotional giving his acceptance speech, more than fifty years after he was elected.
He was Marion County Sheriff for twenty years, from 1972 to 1992.
Once he left his post, former President Bill Clinton made him the Marshall for the Middle District of Florida.
“I am deeply honored being included in this whole thing. When you get to be 90 you really sincerely appreciate everything a little bit more,” said Don Moreland.
Moreland still holds the record for the ‘longest-serving sheriff’ in Marion County.
TRENDING: Gainesville Opportunity Center hosts its 3rd annual bike day
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Florida
Heat and storms forecast for Central Florida on Saturday
Heat indices are forecast to be reach the 100s in Central Florida on Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
Afternoon and evening storms are also expected in the area, NWS said. They are forecast to be strong to severe.
The high today will be 94 degrees and the low will be 73 degrees.
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