Latest news with #AssemblyHealthCommittee
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Proposed NJ bill could allow medical cannabis for sickle cell patients
TRENTON, N.J. (PIX11) — Anyone living with sickle cell anemia is a warrior, Leslie Davis-Primo will tell you. 'I've had three children, largely unassisted by medication -I didn't have any epidurals or whatever- and that's not to say that's a badge of honor, but I would gladly give birth to those three children back to back to back than to have a sickle cell crisis.' More Local News In the U.S., around 100,000 people have sickle cell, and it is most common among people of African descent. A disorder affecting the shape of red blood cells, sickle cell patients endure excruciating pain. Davis-Primo, of Somerset, has had it her whole life but didn't know until she had a crisis at age 23. 'The excruciating pain that you need oftentimes narcotic medication in the hospital or at home to take care of,' said Davis-Primo. She is on a regiment of medications to treat her, but in New Jersey, there could one day be another approved option: medical cannabis. A bill in the State House would look to add the disease to the list of qualifying medical conditions. 'It's one of those diseases that is not recognized until we elevate it,' said Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-NJ 15th District), the primary sponsor of the bill, which advanced through the Assembly Health Committee. 'It's under-researched, it's underfunded.' Right now, in New Jersey, patients with conditions like cancer, ALS, PTSD, and many others are approved to use medical cannabis, but sickle cell is not yet on the list. 'Medical cannabis has been proven to help sickle cell anemia patients with this chronic pain that they have,' said Reynolds-Jackson. 'It's good for glaucoma, for other issues, it's even good for Crohn's disease, which I have.' Should it be passed into law one day, Davis-Primo says she would consider taking advantage. 'That's the big thing for sickle cell nationwide and globally, really: access to care,' said Davis-Primo. 'This really, really makes me feel seen.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NJ bill looks to address maternal health barriers
TRENTON, N.J. (PIX11) – For Assemblywoman Shanique Speight, maternal health is personal. 'When we talk about maternal mortality, and maternal health, and we talk about morbidity, and we're in the year 2025, we still have a lot of work to do,' said Speight (D-NJ 29th District). More Local News A bill she's authoring hopes to make a difference by bringing remote maternal services to some expecting moms on Medicaid. Maternal health is an issue that hits home. 'My husband's mother passed. She was 18 years old. She passed 3 days after she gave birth to him,' said Speight. 'He never knew his mom. I look at we're in 2025, 51 years ago, you would think that things would have changed. And we have made some progress here in the State of New Jersey, but it's actually not enough.' If passed into law, the bill would create a three-year pilot program to provide remote maternal monitoring services to those on Medicaid who are pregnant. The legislation says it will include remote patient monitoring, non-stress tests, and tele-ultrasounds. 'Transportation sometimes is a barrier,' said Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-NJ 15th District), one of the bill's sponsors, 'so this bill helps alleviate that. It still connects people to their doctor, even between those physical appointments.' 'It laid on my heart, and I know there's a lot of people, especially in the Black and Brown communities, that struggle with this as well,' said Assemblyman Antwan McClellan (R-NJ 1st District), another sponsor of the bill. 'You can check out the birth rates and see people are struggling with giving birth to babies in our Black and Brown communities.' The bill ties into the discussion of improving outcomes in Black maternal health. According to data from the CDC, maternal mortality rates for Black women are more than three times higher than for white women. Crystal Charley attended Thursday's Assembly Health Committee meeting to advocate for the bill. A doula herself, she plans to open a birthing center in Trenton soon. 'We need to get this bill passed as soon as possible because for every day it is not passed, we are losing mothers,' said Charley. The committee voted unanimously to advance the bill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
