Alex Jobin

1 week ago | buff.ly | Alex Jobin

On Wednesday, the Commonwealth Fund — a foundation dedicated to independent research on health care issues and addressing health care disparities — released its 2025 Scorecard on State Health System Performance, a report that tracks nationwide and state-by-state health care trends.

1 week ago | alreporter.com | Alex Jobin

The attorneys general of 55 U.S. states and territories have reached a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, over the company’s role in exacerbating the nationwide opioid epidemic through the marketing and sale of their pain medication, OxyContin. The settlement will resolve ongoing litigation against Purdue and the Sacklers, protect them from future civil liabilities, and could help the company win court approval for bankruptcy reorganization.

1 week ago | alreporter.com | Alex Jobin

Edward Poolos, the current deputy commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, has been appointed as the new director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Poolos was first appointed deputy commissioner of Conservation by Governor Kay Ivey in Oct., 2017 after working at ADEM for 25 years, including 17 years as a manager in ADEM’s North Alabama Field Office in Decatur.

2 weeks ago | alreporter.com | Alex Jobin

In 2020, during the waning days of President Donald Trump’s first term, Congress took rare bipartisan action to strip the names of Confederate leaders from military bases in the U.S. At the time, Trump attempted to block the legislation but failed as both Republicans and Democrats voted overwhelmingly to override the president’s veto.

2 weeks ago | alreporter.com | Alex Jobin

After Gov. Kay Ivey signed House Bill 445 — the bill setting major restrictions on Alabama’s hemp and CBD industry — into law in May, confusion arose over exactly when the bill’s provisions, specifically its ban on the sale and possession of smokable hemp products, would go into effect.