Louisiana

Harris campaign reacts to Louisiana hospitals pulling life-saving drug from post-delivery access • Louisiana Illuminator

Published

1 year ago

September 3, 2024

Harris campaign reacts to Louisiana hospitals pulling life-saving drug from post-delivery access • Louisiana Illuminator

The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has waded into Louisiana’s reproductive health debate, criticizing Republican Donald Trump for restrictive policies that states have approved since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed its stance on legal abortion in 2022.

“Let’s be clear: Donald Trump is the reason Louisiana women who are suffering from miscarriages or bleeding out after birth can no longer receive the critical care they would have received before Trump overturned Roe,” Harris-Walz spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika said in a statement to the Illuminator.

“Because of Trump, doctors are scrambling to find solutions to save their patients and are left at the whims of politicians who think they know better,” she added. “Trump is proud of what he’s done. He brags about it. And if he wins, he will threaten to bring the crisis he created for Louisiana women to all 50 states.”

Chitika’s comments came after the Illuminator reported earlier Tuesday that Louisiana hospitals are preparing to remove misoprostol from their obstetric hemorrhage carts now that the medicine has been reclassified as a controlled dangerous substance. The new law goes into effect on Oct. 1, and health care providers are scrambling to come up with new protocols for a medication they have relied upon to save women with life-threatening hemorrhages after delivery.

Misoprostol is prescribed for a number of medical reasons, one of which is to prevent and treat postpartum hemorrhaging. A new Louisiana law reclassifying the medicine as a Schedule IV drug has introduced extra barriers for access because controlled substances have different storage and prescription requirements.

The drug, along with mifepristone, is being targeted because it is also used for abortion. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the law in May, despite more than 200 doctors sending him a letter of concern that the law could have unintended medical consequences.

Doctors grapple with how to save women’s lives amid ‘confusion and angst’ over new Louisiana law

Misoprostol will still be available in Louisiana hospitals, but it won’t be able to be easily accessible on the rolling carts and in-room kits that OB-GYNs typically use if a patient starts bleeding profusely after childbirth. This could mean a delay in care. Some hospitals have already started preemptively removing the medication from their obstetric carts.

“We’re trying to fix something that is not broken and that is absolutely safe,” said Dr. Stacey Holman, division director for Touro Infirmary’s maternal child services. “It’s an unnecessary barrier and really critical to the regular everyday care that we provide to our patients.”

In August, 50 Louisiana doctors signed a letter requesting the Louisiana Department of Health and Surgeon General Ralph Abraham provide guidance on the use of misoprostol in the inpatient setting. “This is a nationally recognized guideline to emergently treat life-threatening postpartum hemorrhage and it is critical that providers are aware and have access to medication without delay,” the doctors wrote.

Louisiana has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, and Black women are disproportionately affected. Seventy-five percent of the state’s rural hospitals don’t have maternity care. The Illuminator spoke with a physician who treats pregnant women at a rural hospital in northwestern Louisiana who was shocked to hear misoprostol was being reclassified as a controlled dangerous substance.

“What? That’s terrifying,” the doctor said. “Take it off the carts? That’s death. That’s a matter of life or death.”

The physician said she uses misoprostol as one of the first drugs to treat hemorrhages because it is easily accessible, doesn’t require syringes or IV access, and has fewer side effects for women with high risk pregnancies.

Other politicians and reproductive health activists have weighed in since the Illuminator published its report on Louisiana’s new law.

Starting 10/1, mifepristone and misoprostol – two drugs used for medication abortion – will become controlled, dangerous substances in Louisiana.
This political move will have dangerous consequences for pregnancy care.
H/t @lorenaoneil & @IlluminatorLAhttps://t.co/kwEvwtc3tq
— Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) September 3, 2024

Misoprostol can be a *lifesaving* medication. Women are at risk of emergency hysterectomies and even death if it’s not administered promptly.
Trump’s Supreme Court overturned Roe, and now look where we are.
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Miso isn’t dangerous — Republicans’ stance on abortion is. https://t.co/L3HiOJ1fY4
— Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) September 3, 2024

Restricting a lifesaving drug isn’t just extreme, it’s preventing doctors from doing their job.
Women deserve better. Doctors deserve better. Americans deserve better.
We can’t let such dangerous measures become the norm. https://t.co/lrScSyUpwU
— Rep. Diana DeGette (@RepDianaDeGette) September 3, 2024
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MAGA abortion bans put all pregnant women in danger. One in three American women have had their reproductive freedom stripped away by Trump’s friends, and this is the future that #Project2025 will bring to every state. We won’t go back. https://t.co/R17se0WIqD
— Michigan Democrats (@MichiganDems) September 3, 2024

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Louisiana

MS Goon Squad victim arrested on drug, gun charges in Louisiana. Bond set

Published

4 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

MS Goon Squad victim arrested on drug, gun charges in Louisiana. Bond set

Eddie Terrell Parker, a victim in the “Goon Squad” case, was arrested in Louisiana on multiple charges.
Parker was stopped for traffic violations and allegedly found with several narcotics and at least one firearm.
The charges include possession with intent to distribute several drugs and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Parker and another man previously settled a $400 million lawsuit against Rankin County after being tortured by former officers.

Eddie Terrell Parker, one of two men who settled a civil lawsuit against Rankin County and the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in the “Goon Squad” case, was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 17, and is being held in a northeast Louisiana jail on multiple charges.

Louisiana State Police Senior Trooper Ryan Davis confirmed details of the incident to the Clarion Ledger via phone call on Friday, Dec. 19.

Davis said Parker was traveling east on Interstate 20 in Madison Parish, Louisiana, when a trooper observed Parker committing “multiple traffic violations.” Davis said the trooper conducted a traffic stop, identified themselves and explained the reason for the stop.

Parker was allegedly found in possession of multiple narcotics, along with at least one firearm.

Parker was booked around 8 p.m. Wednesday into the Madison Parish Detention Center in Tallulah, Louisiana, on the following charges, as stated by Davis:

Possession of marijuana with intent to distribute
Possession of ecstasy with intent to distribute
Possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute
Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled substance
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

Details about the quantity of narcotics found in Parker’s possession were not immediately available.

Davis told the Clarion Ledger that Parker received a $205,250 bond after appearing before a judge.

Parker, along with another man named Michael Jenkins, was tortured and abused on Jan. 24, 2023, at a home in Braxton, at the hands of six former law enforcement officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad.” Parker and Jenkins filed a lawsuit in June 2023 against Rankin County and Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey.

Each of the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers involved in the incident are serving prison time for state and federal charges. Those officers were identified as former Rankin County deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield.

Court documents show U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III issued an order on April 30 dismissing a $400 million lawsuit brought by Jenkins and Parker, saying that the two men had reached a settlement with the county and Bailey. Jenkins and Parker sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest and other costs.

According to court records, the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. However, the order stated that if any party fails to comply with settlement terms, any aggrieved party may reopen the matter for enforcement of the settlement.

Jason Dare, legal counsel for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, stated the settlement agreement totaled to $2.5 million. According to Dare, the settlement was not an admission of guilt on the county’s or the sheriff’s department’s part.

Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.

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Louisiana

Port of South Louisiana welcomes new leadership

Published

16 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Port of South Louisiana welcomes new leadership

Julia Fisher-Cormier. (Courtesy)

The Port of South Louisiana on Thursday announced that Julia Fisher-Cormier has been selected as its new executive director.

The announcement follows a national search and a unanimous vote of a…

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Louisiana

AG Liz Murrill’s office can hire husband’s law firm to defend death sentences, court rules

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

AG Liz Murrill’s office can hire husband’s law firm to defend death sentences, court rules

Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office can employ the Baton Rouge law firm where her husband is a partner to help the agency defend death sentences, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The decision in the case of condemned inmate Darrell Draughn of Caddo Parish clears the way for Murrill’s office to employ the Taylor Porter firm in other capital post-conviction cases as well.

Murrill has stepped into a host of post-conviction cases involving death row prisoners since Louisiana resumed executions in the spring after a 15-year hiatus. The Republican attorney general has said she’s intent on speeding up their path to the execution chamber, and a recent state law that Murrill supported forces many long-dormant challenges forward.

With the ruling, Taylor Porter attorneys are expected to enroll in more capital post-conviction cases for the attorney general. The firm currently represents the state in four such cases, according to Murrill’s office, under a contract that allows it to charge up to $350 hourly.

Among them is the case of former New Orleans Police Department officer Antoinette Frank, the only condemned woman in Louisiana.

Murrill’s husband, John Murrill, is one of about three dozen partners in the Taylor Porter firm. Capital defense advocates argued that the arrangement amounts to a conflict of interest.

Ethics experts say state law requires a higher stake than John Murrill’s 2.7% share of Taylor Porter to amount to a conflict. The state Ethics Board agreed in an advisory opinion in June, which the high court cited in its opinion.

The Louisiana Supreme Court earlier this year cleared Murrill’s office to represent the state in capital post-conviction cases when a district attorney requests it. Its ruling on Tuesday makes clear that the attorney general can outsource the work.

“Taylor Porter has been selected by the Attorney General pursuant to her clear statutory authority to hire private counsel to defend the warden and state. There is little as fundamental to a litigant as one’s ability to select the counsel of your choice,” the court stated.

Murrill says the government work done by Taylor Porter has been carved out from their income since she took office early last year.

“Neither my husband nor I profit off of this work. We won’t be deterred from our mission to see that justice is served, despite frivolous bad faith attacks from anti-death penalty lawyers,” Murrill said Tuesday in a statement.

Defense advocates, however, point to reduced funding for capital defense and a higher workload under the deadlines of the new state law. They say the state is paying outside lawyers at three times the rate of capital appeals attorneys.

“It’s just outrageous,” said James Boren, immediate past president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

“What is absurd is after the attorney general and governor and legislature decrease funding for capital defense, increase the workload, decrease the amount of time to do it, the attorney general’s husband’s law firm is awarded a contract for hundreds of thousands of dollars for less work.”

Prosecutors and capital defense attorneys both say it’s unusual to see a private law firm step into a post-conviction proceeding for the state. Taylor Porter is one of three contractors doing post-conviction work for Murrill’s office, according to state records show.

While the court freed the firm, one of its lawyers remains barred from representing Murrill’s office on those cases. The ethics board found that Grant Willis, who previously led appeals for the attorney general, must sit out for two years. The blackout period for Willis ends next month.

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