The anti-vaccination crowd celebrated this week’s news that Dr. Joe Kanter is stepping down as Louisiana’s chief medical officer. In his role with the state health department, Kanter led efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and encouraged the public to get the vaccine.
He did so out of a sense of duty and without flinching as critics increasingly questioned the proven science behind the policy he enforced.
His departure was reason to rejoice for the science deniers who have been re-energized since Republican Gov. Jeff Landry won his election on promises he would stand firm against any public health measure he deems an encroachment on freedom. As attorney general, he took every opportunity to challenge and lash out at then-Gov. John Bel Edwards for the Democrat’s executive orders to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Louisiana officials’ continued emphasis on vaccinations has been in question since Landry’s election and his subsequent appointment of Dr. Ralph Abraham as state health department secretary. Kanter announced his exit less than two months into Abraham’s tenure.
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Abraham, a former congressman and 2019 governor candidate, was a practicing physician before he took his seat in the U.S. House and a veterinarian before that.
Early in the pandemic, Abraham supported the off-label use of drugs to treat COVID that lacked federal regulatory approval, indicating he was open to alternatives at a time when researchers still hadn’t developed a vaccine.
“There are times when certain drugs need to be tried that have worked even anecdotally, give the patient the option, let them and their doctor make an informed decision,” Abraham told the Louisiana Radio Network in March 2020.
With regards to vaccines, there was an encouraging message from Abraham’s agency last week when it announced two cases of measles had been diagnosed in the New Orleans area. The Louisiana Department of Health reported that the infected individuals had not been immunized, and officials encouraged the public to obtain the MMR vaccine, calling it “highly effective and safe.”
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It remains to be seen if there will be a similar message regarding COVID-19 vaccines, as the virus continues to mutate into new strands and pose a public health threat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending a booster for older adults.
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Rep. Raymond Crews. (LAI photo)
If Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, had his way, Abraham and the health department would disregard the CDC’s recommendation.
Crews said as much Tuesday during a meeting of the House Health and Welfare Committee where Abraham made his first legislative appearance since taking his new job. The state representative took a shot at how the health department under the Edwards administration followed the federal health agency’s advice.
“It seemed to me the CDC told us what to do, and we went with it,” Crews told Abraham.
Crews also shared his dismay during the pandemic over health care professionals not being familiar with “experts,” whose names he shared in the committee meeting. They are:
Dr. Pierre Kory, a physician who lost his certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine for “spreading false or inaccurate medical information.” He advocated for the off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID, despite multiple studies showing the risk of using the antiparasitic. Kory also falsely claimed the COVID vaccine could adversely affect pregnancies and fertility.
Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist who also championed the use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, a lupus and arthritis drug, to treat COVID. He insisted people under 50 didn’t need the COVID vaccine and falsely attributed an excessive number of deaths to the vaccine. McCullough also disputed the need for vaccines to achieve herd immunity from COVID, relying instead on people catching and surviving the virus.
Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, a Belgian veterinarian who sought to undermine confidence in the COVID vaccine, saying it will lead to “a global catastrophe without equal,” in order to promote his own “universal vaccine.” Immunologists have discredited Vanden Bossche’s supposed cure.
Dr. Robert Malone, a physician popular in far-right circles who has conveyed conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID. He has also spread misinformation about vaccines.
“I mention those names, and they act like they’ve never heard of them,” Crews said.
That might be because the doctors he’s confronted are reputable and embrace data-driven, peer-reviewed science over dangerous quackery. Or those doctors might just have had the same response Abraham did after Crews’ comments: silence with a polite smile.
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For the sake of public health, let’s hope our new health secretary doesn’t become an echo chamber for such medical misinformation, even when it supports the political agenda of his boss.
A Pentecostal pastor in Louisiana charged with sexually molesting a teenage girl in his church has been convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile – but was acquitted of the more serious crime of statutory rape.
Milton Otto Martin III, 58, faces up to seven years in prison and must register as a sex offender after a three-day trial in Chalmette, Louisiana, resulted in a guilty verdict against him on Thursday. His sentencing hearing is tentatively set for 15 January in the latest high-profile instance of religious abuse in the New Orleans area.
Authorities who investigated Martin, the pastor of Chalmette’s First Pentecostal Church, spoke with several alleged molestation victims of his. But the jury in his case heard from just two of them, and the charges on which he was tried pertained to only one.
That victim’s attorneys – John Denenea, Richard Trahant and Soren Gisleson – lauded their client for testifying against Martin even as members of the institution’s congregation showed up in large numbers to support him throughout the trial.
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“That was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen a young woman do,” the lawyers remarked in a statement, with Denenea saying it was the first time in his career he and a client of his needed deputies to escort them out the courthouse. “She not only made sure he was accountable for his crimes – she has also protected many other young women from this convicted predator.”
Neither Martin’s attorney, Jeff Hufft, nor his church immediately responded to requests for comment.
The documents containing Martin’s criminal charges alleged that he committed felony carnal knowledge, Louisiana’s formal name for statutory rape, by engaging in oral sex with Denenea’s client when she was 16 in about 2011. The indecent behavior was inflicted on her when she was between the ages of 15 and 17, the charging documents maintained.
A civil lawsuit filed against Martin in parallel detailed how he would allegedly bring the victim – one of his congregants – out on four-wheeler rides and sexually abuse her during breaks that they took during the excursions.
The accuser, now about 30, reported Martin to Louisiana state police before he was arrested in March 2023. Other accusers subsequently came forward with similar allegations dating back further. Martin made bail, pleaded not guilty and underwent trial beginning on Tuesday in front of state court judge Darren Roy.
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Denenea said he believed his client’s testimony on Wednesday was pivotal in Martin’s conviction, which was obtained by prosecutors Barry Milligan and Erica Moore of the Louisiana attorney general’s office, according to the agency.
As Denenea put it, it seemed to him Martin’s acquittal stemmed from uncertainty over whether the accuser initially reported being 16 at the time of the alleged carnal knowledge.
State attorney general Liz Murrill said in a statement that it was “great work” my Milligan and Moore “getting justice for this victim”.
“We will never stop fighting to protect the children of Louisiana,” Murrill said.
Martin was remanded without bail to the custody of the local sheriff’s office to await sentencing after the verdict.
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The lawsuit that Denenea’s client filed against Martin was stayed while the criminal case was unresolved. It can now proceed, with the plaintiff accusing the First Pentecostal church of doing nothing to investigate earlier sexual abuse claims against Martin.
The plaintiff also accused the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowships to which the Chalmette church belonged of failing to properly supervise Martin around children, and her lawsuit demands damages from both institutions.
Martin’s prosecution is unrelated to the clergy molestation scandal that drove the Roman Catholic archdiocese of nearby New Orleans into federal bankruptcy court in 2020 – but the two cases do share a few links.
State police detective Scott Rodrigue investigated Martin after also pursuing the retired New Orleans Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, a serial child molester who had been shielded by his church superiors for decades. Rodrigue’s investigation led to Hecker’s arrest, conviction and life sentence for child rape – shortly before his death in December 2024.
Furthermore, Denenea, Trahant and Gisleson were also the civil attorneys for the victim in Hecker’s criminal case.
Newlab New Orleans is deepening its energy-tech ambitions with a new partnership alongside JERA, Japan’s largest power generator, to accelerate next-generation carbon capture solutions for heavy industries across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, The Center Square writes.
The collaboration brings JERA Ventures into Newlab’s public-private innovation hub, where startups gain access to lab space and high-end machinery to commercialize technologies aimed at cutting emissions and improving industrial efficiency.
The move builds momentum as Newlab prepares to open its fifth global hub next fall at the former Naval Support Activity site, adding New Orleans to a network that includes Riyadh and Detroit. JERA’s footprint in Louisiana is already growing—from a joint venture on CF Industries’ planned $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant to investments in solar generation and Haynesville shale assets—positioning the company as a significant player in the state’s clean-energy transition.
Federal immigration authorities are keeping a tight lid on key details as “Catahoula Crunch” closes its first week in southeast Louisiana, Verite writes.
The operation—one of Department of Homeland Security’s largest recent urban crackdowns—began with raids at home-improvement stores and aims for 5,000 arrests, according to plans previously reviewed by the Associated Press. While DHS publicly highlighted arrests of immigrants with violent criminal records, AP data shows fewer than one-third of the 38 detainees in the first two days had prior convictions.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups report widespread fear in Hispanic communities, with residents avoiding hospitals, schools, workplaces and even grocery stores amid sightings of federal agents.
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Business impacts are already visible: restaurants and Hispanic-serving corridors like Broad Street appear unusually quiet, with staff shortages forcing menu cuts and temporary closures. School absenteeism has doubled in Jefferson Parish, and protests have spread across New Orleans and surrounding suburbs as local leaders demand transparency around federal tactics.
