HJBR Jan/Feb 2025

38 JAN / FEB 2025  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   Healthcare Briefs procedures have also been affected, as patients report having a hard time filling prescriptions and local pharmacies change whether they dispense the medication at all. “Act 246 harms patients who require misopro- stol or mifepristone to treat their physical condi- tions, as well as the medical professionals seeking to provide timely, appropriate, and compassion- ate care,” the lawsuit says. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that a post- partum hemorrhage is as “severe and dangerous as a gunshot wound,” but that medications such as epinephrine and lidocaine are readily available to treat gunshot wounds and are not designated controlled dangerous substances. The Birthmark Doula Collective is a newer opponent of the law. The New Orleans-based organization offers its services during pregnancy, childbirth and after labor, with a focus on margin- alized communities. Louisiana is among the worst states in terms of maternal mortality and morbid- ity, with Black women disproportionately at risk of dying due to complications with childbirth. While doulas cannot prescribe or administer misoprostol to their clients, the lawsuit states the Birthmark is worried Act 246 will injure their clients’ quality of care. They are also concerned about how delays in accessing misoprostol will increase the “trauma and danger of a postpar- tum hemorrhage.” ”Birthmark’s clients are hindered in advocating for their own rights because patients, for instance, cannot go to court to challenge a law while hem- orrhaging,” the lawsuit says. Nancy Davis and Kaitlyn Joshua have both become reproductive health advocates after being denied pregnancy care under Louisiana’s abortion ban. After her fetus was diagnosed to be develop- ing without a skull, Davis said she was denied care in Louisiana and had to travel to New York for an abortion. When Joshua went to two Baton Rouge-area hospital emergency rooms bleed- ing from a miscarriage, she said she was denied care. Joshua shared her story on the Democratic National Convention stage in August, and both she and Davis have traveled around the coun- try recounting their story during Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Emily Holt, DO, a New Orleans family physician, is suing on her own and on behalf of her patients. She recently opened her own clinic and had planned on dispensing misoprostol and mifepris- tone on site, but she does not have a controlled substances license. In the lawsuit, Holt argues “it will likely be costly and administratively burden- some for her small clinic to comply with the nec- essary protocols.” Kaylee Self, a Shreveport pharmacist involved in the lawsuit, is suing on behalf of her business, her customers and as a pregnant woman. The lawsuit includes her concerns over delays in care should she need access to misoprostol during her preg- nancy or childbirth. As a pharmacist, Self claims Act 246 will force her to spend more of her time dealing with legal compliance and requirements rather than filling prescriptions for patients. In an interview, Schilling said that because con- trolled substances are also closely monitored, it could lead to criminal consequences for patients following their treatment plans with a lawful pre- scription. In particular, patients who take misopro- stol to prevent ulcers take 100-200 micrograms four times a day, an amount that could flag the patient for additional inquiry. “When dealing with any increase in criminal- ization, [it often] disproportionately falls on Black and brown people, and Louisiana has a long his- tory of that,” Schilling said. PFFALADonates $30K to AHA for CPR in Schools Kits Chad Major, president of the Professional Fire Fighters Association of Louisiana, along with Brent Rosenbrook, PFFALA fundraising coordi- nator, presented a check for $30,000 in support of the American Heart Association’s Nation of Life- savers Initiative. The purpose of Nation of Lifesav- ers is to turn more bystanders into lifesavers, with the education of Hands Only CPR. This donation will help to implement CPR in Schools Training Kits throughout the greater Baton Rouge community. Kerin Spears, vice pres- ident of Greater Louisiana area for the American Heart Association, and her Capital Area team received the donation. Each year, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States and fewer than half of these people receive the imme- diate help that they need before professional help arrives. But immediate CPR could double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival. “Many of the schools, public and private, throughout Greater Baton Rouge lack CPR kits for training. Thanks to the recognition of this need for our community, and the generosity of our local sponsors, tens of thousands of our stu- dents will now be able to save a life,” said Kerin Spears, executive director, American Heart Asso- ciation, Capital Area. OLOL Heart &Vascular Institute Performs Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement Our Lady of the Lake Heart & Vascular Institute recently performed Louisiana’s first transcathe- ter tricuspid valve replacement procedure using the EVOQUE system from Edwards Lifesciences, expanding treatment options for patients with tricuspid regurgitation according to an OLOL spokesperson. Tricuspid regurgitation has traditionally only been treated using medication for its symptoms, not for the disease itself. The EVOQUE system has the potential to eliminate a patient’s tricus- pid regurgitation all together. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Introduces Hexapod Radiation Technology Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center announced the introduction of Hexapod radiation technol- ogy at its Gonzales and Houma locations. This radiation therapy is used at both Mary Bird Per- kins Cancer Center in Gonzales and Terrebonne General | Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. The Hexapod is a robotic platform that offers a wide range of movement for patients, result- ing in unparalleled accuracy. Unlike traditional treatment tables that only offer movement along three axes — up/down, in/out, and left/right — the Hexapod offers movement along six axes and is capable of accounting for subtle variations. This ensures that each patient’s treatment is subject to exceptional precision, accounting for even the smallest variations in positioning. Additionally, the Hexapod can help target tumors and mini- mize exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. n