Health Care Issues

Addiction Incorporated at O Cinema March 31 and April 1

Aiman Aryan, Government Center Pill Mill Pharmacist, Pleads Guilty

​A pharmacist who ran a pill mill from the lobby of the Miami-Dade County Government Center is pleading guilty for his role in a $55 million medicare scam involving prescription pain killers. Aiman Aryan will give up his pharmacist license and will be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison. ... More >>

Florida Prisoner Whose Penis Was Amputated Gets Billed by the State for Medical Expenses

​A Floridian convicted of drunk driving already had his penis amputated during a three-year prison stay. Now the state wants him to pay more than $50,000 for the experience. Last week, we brought you the sorry saga of a man we named Hank, who endured several allegedly botched surgeries while in ... More >>

Aiman Aryan, Accused Of Slinging Oxy, Ran Pharmacy In Downtown Government Center

photo by Daniel Christensen via Wikimedia CommonsCounty Hall, oxy central?​In true South Florida fashion, a pill mill that trafficked thousands of illegal oxycodone tablets was operating right in the heart of Miami-Dade County government, the feds say.Recent charges filed against Robert's Drug Sto ... More >>

Ed Schultz Rips Marco Rubio for Insulting America

​So, Marco Rubio is going around calling America "weakened." He blames it on Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Well, MSNBC host Ed Schultz takes exception to the claim, and ripped Rubio in a 16-minute segment aired last Friday."Rubio is stupid, he doesn't even know he's offensive," says Schu ... More >>

Rick Scott Pays Just $360-a-year For His Taxpayer-Subsidized Health Insurance

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average health plan costs an American family $13,770 in premiums a year. Governor Rick Scott pays just $360 to insure himself and his wife thanks to a state Government plan he's enrolled in. Yep. the average American pays 38.25 percent more for their he ... More >>

12 South Florida Seniors Go Blind After Tainted Injections

​Twelve senior citizens in South Florida have lost their vision after being injected with tainted medication. The Department of Health claims a contaminated batch of medication and syringes was distributed to various medical clinics in the area.

Marco Rubio and the Grand Old Party Are a "Hot, Sloppy Mess"

A hot, sloppy mess. And Nicki Minaj.​The Riptide national politics desk has been working around the clock to bring you this shocking revelation: Some Democrats suspect the Republican Party is crazy."I think Mitch McConnell, frankly, has lost his mind," said Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Miss ... More >>

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree: Rep. Daphne Campbell's Son Charged with Medicare Fraud

​Back in December, New Times reported the long and shady past of newly elected state Rep. Daphne Campbell's questionable dealings while running group homes for adults who need special care. Now her son, 28-year-old Gregory Campbell, has been charged with Medicare fraud for allegedly bill ... More >>

Casinos, pot, and fun will save Miami's economy

​Back in December, New Times reported the long and shady past of newly elected state Rep. Daphne Campbell's questionable dealings while running group homes for adults who need special care. Now her son, 28-year-old Gregory Campbell, has been charged with Medicare fraud for allegedly bill ... More >>

Who Wanna Wild Out at Miami-Dade Mayoral Candidate Luther Campbell's Campaign Rally?

Vote Uncle Luke 4 Mayor!​Most professional politicians don't know how to party. They're idea of "fun" is finger foods, light drinks, and saxophone music. So under normal circumstances, we here at Crossfade prefer partying to politicking, boozing to bargaining, drugging to debating. But Miami-Dad ... More >>

Rick Scott Should Follow Arizona's Lead In Favor of Medical Marijuana

​Considering our new governor loves Arizona's controversial immigration law so much he wants to create a similar one in Florida, we think Rick Scott should also consider the Grand Canyon state's acceptance of medical marijuana. By a slim margin, voters said yes to Proposition 203 on November 2, ma ... More >>

Alex Sink Blames Obama Administration for Her Loss

Is Alex Sink chewing on a bushel of sour grapes following her loss to Rick Scott or is she accurately hitting on some of the political and messaging failures of the Obama White House and the Democratic party in general? In an article on Politico this weekend, Sink lays some of the blame for her loss ... More >>

McCollum: Rekers Was "The Best Expert"

​Surprise! Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum still opposes gay adoption -- notwithstanding the spectacular downfall of his hand-picked anti-gay expert, George Alan Rekers. "I don't believe the gay family model is good for kids," McCollum said this week to the ... More >>

Snooki Sees Orange Over Tanning Tax

The tanning tax's poster child?With a new 10 percent federal tax kicking in July 1, there's a June gloom descending on tanning salons across South Florida. The tax, which is supposed to generate some $2.7 billion over the next 10 years to help cover uninsured Americans, has spooked even the palest M ... More >>

Tanning Beds Can Be Addictive, Literally

​An orange-looking girl with no tan lines desperate for her next session in a tanning booth might exhibit similar behaviors to a crackhead looking for his next hit. Yes, science suggests that indoor tanning could become addictive just like drugs and alcohol. Researchers at the Memo ... More >>

Florida Tea Baggers: Day Healthcare Reform Passed Was "One of the Darkest Days Since 9/11"

​A bunch of tea baggers held a rally on the steps of the Florida capitol up in Tallahassee today, and politicians including Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp came out and spoke to them while standing by a podium made to look like two crates stamped with the word "Tea."Naked Politics reports that one of the s ... More >>

Alex Sink's Confusing Response to Health-Care Reform

​We've had a hard time figuring out where presumptive gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink lies on the Democratic Party's spectrum.Is she a dyed-in-the-wool, bleeding-heart liberal? Eh, probably not.Is she a staunch Blue Dog? Doesn't quite seem like it.Is she, like so many Florida politicians, a cautio ... More >>

Still Tokin': 4 Million Adults Over 50 Still Get High

​Drugs: They're not just for young people. Old people are getting high in record numbers. A new government study suggests more than 4 million Americans over the age of 50 still smoke pot and abuse prescription drugs, a finding that should surprise no one. Especially if you know ex-h ... More >>

Students Told to Butt Out: Florida Colleges Restrict Outdoor Smoking

"Nah bra, it's just a 'herbal cigarette.' Oh, that's banned too, now?"​Theoretically, college campuses are supposed to be safe havens for all sorts of new experiences and personal freedoms. Ideally, that means intellectual pursuits, but let's be real -- in Florida that means the freedom to experie ... More >>

Can Charlie Crist Move Right Without It Seeming Like a Blatant Political Ploy?

Poor Charlie Crist. As he tries to make the move from governor to senator, he finds himself in quite the political quagmire. Much of which has been brought on by primary foe Marco Rubio hitting Crist from the right every chance he gets. So in response, Crist, whose reputation has changed from "Chain ... More >>

Top Ten Thursdays: Top Ten Songs for Obama Haters

via rpof.orgJim Greer thinks censorship is very American.​All summer long I have gone shit-house-rat-crazy observing the likes of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Karl Rove and the rest of The Right's evil elite dispense fear-mongering falsehoods in a desperate attempt to stop some much nee ... More >>

Kendrick Meek Opposes Using Federal Funds to Pay for Abortions

Rep. Kendrick Meek has joined a small group of house Democrats asking that any health-care reforms not lead to federal funding of abortion, according to the Washington Post. The possibility of taxpayer money being used to pay for abortions is becoming a hot-button issue in the health-care reform ... More >>

Victoria Jackson: Obama Is Hitler Jr. and Wants to Kill Your Grandma

So apparently Victoria Jackson's heartfelt column about breaking into tears over Year One's sheep-fucking jokes was the first in what we can only hope is a long line of columns for (former Drudge collaborator) Andrew Breitbart's conservative site Big Hollywood.Unfortunately, the SNL alum and Mi ... More >>

Miami's Medicare Racket: Eight More Indicted in $100 Million Fraud

Let's go ahead and just christen it the cocaine trade of the Double-Aughts: Medicare fraud may be a lot less sexy, but it sure is keeping federal prosecutors in Miami busy.One month after busting up a $21 million, three-state ring, the feds expanded that investigation and charged eight Miami re ... More >>

Miami Family Health Care Costs Highest in the Nation

You better get a free lollypop for that price. According to the Millman Index, the average total medical costs for a family of four rose 7.4% in the past year to $16,771. Miami has the heaviest costs in the entire country, with an average of $20,280. That costs includes employer contributions, deduc ... More >>

Two More Arrested In Miami's Hottest New Racket, Medicare Fraud

Sure, it's not as sexy as running coke in cigarette boats over the Florida Straits or bootlegging moonshine for northern gangsters on the lam. But damn if Medicare fraud isn't lucrative -- which is probably why it's shaping up as one of the defining crimes of modern Miami.As Jay Weaver's great cover ... More >>

On Day 99, Obama Hires HIV Czar

A quick followup of sorts to our post Monday highlighting the Obama administration's inaction on HIV/AIDS during his first 100 days in office. Yesterday it was announced the president has chosen Dr. Eric Goosby to head PEPFAR. Goosby served in the Clinton administration as deputy director of the Nat ... More >>

Miami Bass Express

Today The Herald is reporting on the epidemic of prescription drugs from South Florida invading the Appalachian states. If you've ever seen the ad section of the Broward Palm Beach New Times you know what a big business prescription drugs are, and apparently Broward county is one of the easiest p ... More >>

State Looking to Make Cuts in Medicaid

So the brain trust up in Tallahassee has found itself with a $2 billion hole in the budget (yeah, yeah, financial crisis; more like yeah, yeah overzealous tax cuts), and one of the areas they're looking to make cuts in is Medicaid, which provides healthcare to the state's poorest citizens, according ... More >>

Local Conservatives Think Conservatives Weren't Conservative Enough

So the brain trust up in Tallahassee has found itself with a $2 billion hole in the budget (yeah, yeah, financial crisis; more like yeah, yeah overzealous tax cuts), and one of the areas they're looking to make cuts in is Medicaid, which provides healthcare to the state's poorest citizens, according ... More >>

Hipster Grannies For Obama

So the brain trust up in Tallahassee has found itself with a $2 billion hole in the budget (yeah, yeah, financial crisis; more like yeah, yeah overzealous tax cuts), and one of the areas they're looking to make cuts in is Medicaid, which provides healthcare to the state's poorest citizens, according ... More >>

The Sex Doll Diaries

Artist brings her silicone twin to town for one last romp.

Homestead Teacher on Staph-Infected Student: Too Little, Too Late

Artist brings her silicone twin to town for one last romp.

Protestors Agitate Outside Rubio's Empty Office

Artist brings her silicone twin to town for one last romp.

Puff Piece

Thank You for Smoking's satire falls short of incendiary

The Tokin' Few

Meet the "magnificent" Irvin Rosenfeld

Letters from the Issue of June 10, 2004

Steel guitars, the Sambo Syndrome, scofflaw politicians, and Scully’s Tavern

BEST POLITICAL MISCALCULATION

Annie Betancourts anti-embargo gambit in the race for U.S. House District 25

New Italian Eatery, Take Twenty

Blumarine

The New Dealers

They're poor, black, and HIV-positive. Their product? The AIDS medications intended to cure them.

Bum Voyage

Six passengers were kicked off a cruise ship in a foreign land. Their crime? Tobacco possession.

Best Neighbors

Harriel's Tobacco Shoppe of Suniland

The Sound of Mutilation

Before the Nazis amputated her arm, Sara Fershko was a concert violinist. Today she's struggling to pay her medical bills

Reefer Science

Uncle Sam is looking for a few good potheads to cure, and treatment is yours for the toking

Let the Sunshine In

Uncle Sam is looking for a few good potheads to cure, and treatment is yours for the toking

20,000 Geezers Under the Sea?

A promoter's tale of top-secret "euthanasia cruises" doesn't hold water

Smokin' Near the Boys' Room

When a Metro cop spotted a defense attorney sneaking a butt in the Justice Building, it was a clear case of drag erasing

They're Gonna Live Forever

Federal officials have spent an eternity trying to put the founders of Fort Lauderdale's Life Extension Foundation behind bars

Death and Profits

When Hugh Westbrook pioneered hospice care, his organization saw to the needs of the dying. Fifteen years later nothing has changed -- except the politics and the profit margins.