Latest news with #HuntingtonPark
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Doctor in Dem-led city forced out of office by homeless encampment on the roof of her building
A well-respected doctor in Democrat-led California has been forced to abandon her practice after years of a persistent homeless encampment overtaking the building's roof. Dr. Tahani Soliman, owner of a Los Angeles County medical practice, has spent years battling a group of unhoused individuals who have turned her rooftop into their own personal space - terrorizing her staff, setting fires, and creating an unsafe work environment, KTLA News reported. Now, the West Coast physician is officially walking away from her practice, overwhelmed by frustration and a glaring lack of urgency from city officials. 'We are living in hell,' Soliman told the outlet. Located in a Huntington Park neighborhood, Soliman's family medicine practice sits next to a multi-level parking garage. However, the parking garage in question is notoriously a hotspot for the local homeless population - and alarmingly, it provides easy access to the rooftop of the doctor's office. For years, the self-employed doctor has endured the homeless encampment consistently taking over her building's roof - stealing electricity, stripping scrap metal from air conditioning units and even starting trash fires. Dr. Tahani Soliman (pictured), owner of a family medicine practice in Huntington Park, has spent years battling a group of unhoused individuals who have turned her rooftop into their own personal space - resulting in the loss of her sense of safety As recently as Tuesday, a fire broke out atop the parking structure, forcing crews from the Los Angeles Fire Department to rush in and extinguish the blaze. But this incident is far from isolated. It appears to simply be the breaking point in Soliman's long-running struggle. In 2023, a fire erupted in the same exact spot, during which firefighters informed the doctor and her staff for the first time that homeless people were living atop the parking garage. 'We ended up putting a fence with barbed wire,' employee Gaby Rodriguez told KTLA. 'They took that down.' 'We put cages around our AC units, and they took those down.' From that point on, clothes strewn across the roof, damaged equipment, discarded cans, vape devices and other debris have become a constant and struggling sight. Soliman shared that she estimates having spent more than $100,000 in repairs and deterrents like barbed wire and fencing - only to watch the homeless tear it down time and time again. The parking garage (pictured) next to Soliman's practice is notoriously a hotspot for the local homeless population - and alarmingly, it provides easy access to the rooftop of the doctor's office For years, clothes strewn across the roof, damaged equipment, discarded cans, vape devices (pictured) and other debris have become a constant and struggling sight 'They ruined my roof,' the doctor told KTLA. 'I have to put in a new roof and electricity from the air conditioning,' she added. 'I have to replace all of them.' Whenever Huntington Park police are alerted to the recurring incidents, they reportedly tell Soliman there's little they can do to resolve the problem. Adding to her frustration, every call Soliman has made to city officials has gone unanswered, leaving her feeling abandoned as her business continues to be overrun. 'No protection for my employees, for my patients or my tenants,' Soliman told KTLA. 'That's why I'm going to retire, because of this, I lost everything.' The encampment, which has been a source of escalating tension and safety concerns, has raised serious questions about the city's handling of homelessness. Critics of California's shelter system have dubbed it the 'homeless industrial complex', but Sergio Perez, who was until recently a Los Angeles city accountability chief, gave it another name in March. In Perez's words, it's a 'very expensive merry-go-round'. Soliman (pictured) shared that she estimates having spent more than $100,000 in repairs and deterrents like barbed wire and fencing - only to watch the homeless tear it down time and time again A recent study by CalMatters revealed the true scale of California's shelter system, which is bigger than was widely understood. Since 2018, the news site found, at least $1 billion of tax dollars has flowed to projects for the homeless. But these epic handouts solve nothing. Although the number of emergency beds has more than doubled from 27,000 to 61,000 in that time, there are still three times as many homeless people as there are shelter beds across the Golden State. Researchers lifted the lid on a mismanaged, graft-ridden enterprise - a gravy train of funders, officials, shelter owners and charities that perpetuates the homelessness crisis as it gobbles up more public money. However, the homeless themselves are the real victims, as they languish in moldy shelters where stabbings, sex crimes, harassment, and child abuse too often hurt their already-struggling occupants. The Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count registered as many as 6,672 people experiencing homelessness in Lancaster and its surrounding areas in 2024 alone. Earlier this year, Southern California mayor R. Rex Parris of Lancaster (pictured) sparked mass condemnation after revealing he'd give homeless residents 'all the fentanyl they want' in an effort to wipe them out Earlier this year, a Southern California mayor sparked mass condemnation after revealing he'd give homeless residents 'all the fentanyl they want' in an effort to wipe them out. Just a tiny, two milligrams dose of the drug is enough to kill a human. R. Rex Parris, the mayor of Lancaster, made the remarks in front of stunned residents and councilmembers at a city council meeting. When asked about his vision to tackle the crisis, the 73-year-old Republican mayor did not mince his words. 'What I want to do is give them free fentanyl,' Parris said. 'I mean, that's what I want to do. I want to give them all the fentanyl they want.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Rooftop homeless encampment in L.A. terrorizing doctor's office
A doctor in the south-central region of Los Angeles County is calling it quits after years of battling denizens of a rooftop homeless encampment that have continuously terrorized her and her employees, costing the general practitioner tens of thousands of dollars in the process. Dr. Tahani Soliman owns the building she runs her practice out of on the corner of Rugby and Zoe avenues in Huntington Park. A multi-level parking garage next door to her practice has reportedly been a hub for unhoused people, who are easily able to access her roof, camp out, steal electricity and scrap metal from her air-conditioning units and start fires. The doctor told KTLA that she estimates she's spent more than $100,000 on repairs and deterrents such as barbed wire and a fence that the homeless simply tear down. 'We are living in hell,' Soliman said. 'They ruined my roof. I have to put in a new roof and electricity from the air conditioning. I have to replace all of them.' On Tuesday, crews with the Los Angeles Fire Department extinguished a blaze on the rooftop of the parking structure and it's not the first time. Gaby Rodriguez, who works for Dr. Soliman, said there was another fire in the same spot in 2023. It was firefighters who told the doctor and her staff that homeless people were living on top of the parking garage. 'Violent unscripted, unscheduled' rape scene at core of lawsuit against Kevin Costner 'We ended up putting up a fence with barbed wire. They took that down,' Rodriguez said. 'We put cages around our AC units, and they took those down.' According to Rodriguez, Huntington Park police have told the doctor and her staff that there is not much they can do about the problem and that the office's calls to the city for help have gone unreturned. Dr. Soliman, frustrated and angry about the lack of support for her business, staff and patients, said she has had enough. 'No protection for my employees, for my patients or my tenants,' she told KTLA. 'That's why I'm going to retire, because of this I lost everything.' KTLA reached out to Huntington Park city officials who said they would investigate the situation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Medical News Today
09-05-2025
- Health
- Medical News Today
Shingles vaccine may lower heart disease risk by up to 8 years
Elizabeth Gomez, 54, of Huntington Park, right, receives a Prevnar and shingles vaccine by pharmacy manager Sandra Gonzalez at CVS in Huntington Park on August 28, 2024. Image credit:Adults ages 50 and over can be vaccinated against shingles. Past studies show the shingles vaccine may provide additional health benefits. A new study found that people who receive the shingles vaccine have a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular events, with this protective benefit lasting for up to eight years after vaccination. Adults ages 50 and older can be vaccinated against shingles. The vaccine provides more than 90% protection against developing shingles. Past studies show that in addition to providing protection against shingles, the vaccine may also provide other health benefits, including a potentially lower risk for dementia , as well as heart conditions such as heart attack and stroke . 'Shingles has traditionally been regarded as an infectious disease,' Sooji Lee, MD, researcher in the Center for Digital Health in the Medical Science Research Institute at Kyung Hee University Medical Center in South Korea, told Medical News Today. 'However, previous studies suggested an association between shingles and chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease. This points to a potential link between infections and chronic diseases. This is why further investigation into the broader impact of shingles vaccination is essential,' she explained. Lee is the first author of a new study that has found people who receive the shingles vaccine have a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart failure, stroke, and coronary heart disease, with this protective benefit lasting for up to eight years post-vaccination. The findings were recently published in the European Heart Journal. For this study, researchers analyzed medical data from more than 1.2 million adults ages 50 or over living in South Korea from 2012 onward. Scientists determined whether or not participants received a live zoster vaccine for shingles, which contains a weakened form of the varicella-zoster virus. At the study's conclusion, researchers found that participants who received the shingles vaccine had a 23% lower chance of experiencing any cardiovascular events, as well as a 26% lower risk for any major cardiovascular event, such as stroke, heart attack, or death from heart disease. Scientists also found that the shingles vaccine lowered a person's risk for heart failure by 26% and coronary heart disease by 22%. 'The finding that vaccination was associated with a 23% reduction in cardiovascular risk even in a previously healthy population highlights the potential of shingles vaccination as a preventive measure against heart disease,' Lee said. How the vaccine lowers disease risk 'Shingles can trigger inflammation in blood vessels, potentially leading to cardiovascular events. By preventing the shingles infection, the vaccine likely reduces this inflammatory response, thereby lowering the risk of heart disease.' — Sooji Lee, MD Additionally, Lee and her team found that the cardiovascular protective effects of the shingles vaccine last for as long as eight years. And the strongest protection occurred in the first two to three years after receiving the vaccine. 'This suggests that the shingles vaccine provides a long-term protective effect on heart health, with the most significant benefits observed in the first two to three years post-vaccination,' Lee explained. 'Given that recombinant shingles vaccines are now more widely used and have shown higher effectiveness, our next step is to study their potential impact on cardiovascular outcomes.' 'This is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies following a healthy general population over a period of up to 12 years, Dong Keon Yon, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Digital Health at Kyung Hee University College of Medicine in South Korea, and lead author of the study says in a press release. 'For the first time, this has allowed us to examine the association between shingles vaccination and 18 different types of cardiovascular disease. We were able to account for various other health conditions, lifestyle factors, and socioeconomic status, making our findings more robust.' — Dong Keon Yon, MD, PhD 'However, as this study is based on an Asian cohort, the results may not apply to all populations,' Yon continues. 'While we conducted rigorous analysis, this study does not establish a direct causal relationship, so potential bias from other underlying factors should be considered.' MNT had the opportunity to speak with Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, about this study. 'These results highlight the significant morbidity and mortality that is associated with shingles and should further drive our efforts to vaccinate as many eligible patients as possible,' Chen commented. 'Varicella-zoster, the virus that causes shingles, has been shown to increase inflammation, cause blood vessel damage, and increase clotting, all of which can lead to serious cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. The shingles vaccine, by preventing varicella-zoster infection, would thus decrease cardiovascular risk by preventing the adverse reactions associated with the virus.' — Cheng-Han Chen, MD 'The varicella-zoster virus can cause complications with many different organ systems, including the heart and nervous system,' Chen continued. 'Research on the shingles vaccine can help us better understand and reduce the health effects of varicella-zoster infection. This study was performed, specifically in an Asian population. Further research will be needed to confirm whether the findings are applicable to a wider demographic,' he added. MNT also spoke with Grant Simons, MD, chief of Heart Rhythm Services at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, about this research, who commented that he found the results to be somewhat surprising, though not entirely unexpected. 'While a link between shingles and cardiovascular events has been established, the extent of the risk reduction associated with the shingles vaccine shown in this study is notable,' Simons explained. 'The magnitude of the risk reduction (22-26%) across various cardiovascular events is higher than some might have anticipated, which is surprising. Previous studies have suggested potential benefit, but this very large study provides stronger evidence and quantifies the potential impact more definitively. The duration of protection (up to eight years) is also a positive surprise.' — Grant Simons, MD 'The study provides compelling evidence for the cardiovascular benefits of the shingles vaccine, with a stronger and longer-lasting protective effect than previously anticipated,' Simons continued. 'Although this is an observational study, its large size is somewhat compelling. While the biological mechanisms are still being investigated, the findings are significant for public health recommendations regarding vaccination in older adults.' 'However, it is important to note that more research is needed to fully elucidate the specific pathways involved,' Simons added. 'This study provides strong observational evidence for the association, but further investigation is required to confirm and detail the causal mechanisms.' Heart Disease Shingles Cardiovascular / Cardiology Immune System / Vaccines
