Author: Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout

CannaBeat: State Sued for Rule Change on Smokeables

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date December 12, 2024

CBD and Delta-8 products on a shelf at Cumberland Cannabis (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee’s hemp industry is making a last-ditch legal effort to halt sweeping new rules that would ban the sale of popular hemp products legally available in the state since 2019.

Attorneys representing Tennessee hemp retailers and producer associations are expected in a Nashville court Monday just ahead of new state product testing rules scheduled to take effect Dec. 26.

The rules would bar the manufacture, distribution and sale of many of the best-selling hemp products that have helped drive a nascent state industry to generate $280-$560 million in sales annually, based on survey data cited in legal documents.

The hemp products haven’t been outlawed by the Tennessee legislature or the federal government.

TN Agriculture officials want to curb CBD and THCA smokables, offer cryptic response to questions

Rather, new legislation designed to impose first-time regulations on Tennessee’s five-year-old hemp industry –—such as license requirements, taxes, and age restrictions — have been interpreted by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in a way that would render certain hemp products illegal.

The rules require products to be tested for the first time for so-called TCHA content, a naturally occurring and still-legal substance found in all hemp plants. When hemp flowers are heated or smoked, the substance converts to THC — an illegal substance in Tennessee when it is present in greater than trace amounts.

The Tennessee Growers Association and the Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association are seeking a temporary injunction they say is necessary to prevent widespread devastation to the burgeoning industry.

Should the new rules go into effect, “a large share of Tennessee’s hemp-derived cannabinoid market will be rendered illegal overnight, shuttering many businesses and forcing downsizing and layoffs at others,” legal filings by the Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association read.

Hemp is a cannabis plant that has been legally available in Tennessee since the Legislature first approved its production, possession, and sale in 2019.

It’s distinguished from marijuana by its concentration of a compound known as delta-9 THC. Cannabis with a concentration of less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC is defined as legal hemp in Tennessee — and federally. Cannabis with concentrations greater than .3 percent is classified as marijuana and is illegal to grow, sell, or possess in Tennessee.

Stockard on the Stump: Senator predicts Delta variant will spur vaccinations

Hemp flowers also contain THCA, a nonintoxicating acid that has not been outlawed in Tennessee. When heated or smoked, however, the THCA in the plant converts into delta-9 THC.

The state product testing rules unveiled by Tennessee’s agriculture department earlier this year will now make THCA products illegal based on their combined concentration of delta-9 THC and THCA, rather than solely their delta-9 THC concentration.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, which rejected hemp industry administrative appeals of the rules, declined to comment Tuesday on pending legislation.

Both industry groups argue the state’s agriculture department exceeded its authority in formulating the rules, essentially outlawing a product the legislature has determined to be legal.

“Here, it blinks reality to conclude that the General Assembly — in the very statute that expressly defines (THCA) as a legal hemp-derived cannabinoid without any concentration limits — delegated to the Department a clandestine power to outlaw (THCA) products that have been legally sold in Tennessee for years,” legal filings said.

The Tennessee Growers Association has also put forth a separate legal argument that the 2023 law intended to regulate “hemp-derived products” does apply to the unadulterated hemp plant itself.

“Hemp and raw flowers are not HDC’s (hemp derivative products),” the Tennessee Growers Coalition argued. “After all, hemp cannot be ‘derived’ from itself.”

The groups are seeking an immediate preliminary injunction in Davidson County Chancery Court to prevent the rules from taking effect.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

Tags CannaBeat, cannabis, marijuana, Memphis, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Tennessee Growers Coalition, THCA

News News Blog News Feature

TBI Program Would Test Sewage for Drugs

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date November 13, 2024

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is proposing a $3 million pilot project to test sewage from Knoxville-area high schools, college dorms, and other locations for illicit drugs, Director David Rausch said Tuesday.

If the budget for the project is approved, testing will initially begin on wastewater from 12 public high schools and 16 college dorms. Another 120 Knoxville locations could be selected for wastewater testing at the TBI’s discretion, Rausch said. The pilot would run for 30 weeks.

The testing is intended to identify specific illicit drugs and the concentration of drug use in a particular location using a key surveillance tool deployed during the Covid pandemic to monitor disease prevalence.

Results of school and dorm-based wastewater testing, Rausch said, can help keep parents and school administrators informed about student drug use.

“That becomes a great piece for those administrators at the school to be able to educate parents and make them aware this is an issue,” Rausch said in presenting the proposal to Gov. Bill Lee as part of his agency’s overall request for a $21 million budget increase next year.

“It also then becomes an educational tool for us to be able to educate the community on these drugs that are being used there.”

The testing would also have law enforcement uses, said Rausch, noting the surveillance — which would be done by an outside contractor — can pinpoint the source of illicit drugs “as close as a block as (to) where that issues.”

“If we have an area with a lot of drug complaints, we can have them test the water in that area,” Rausch said. “They wouldn’t be able to tell me the exact house, but they could tell me a selection of four houses. And then our work on intel and observation, we would be able to tell where the house is.”

Testing sewage for illicit drug use is underway in 70 U.S. cities as part of a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded program intended to help guide cities in where they need to focus resources in preventing overdose deaths.

Unlike the TBI proposal, the Institute-funded testing is done in conjunction with local public health departments, not law enforcement.

Tags David Rausch, drugs, Memphis, Surveillance, Tennessee, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

News News Blog News Feature

SCOTUS Sets Date for Tennessee Transgender Suit

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date October 25, 2024

The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Dec. 4th in the case challenging Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors brought by three young people and their families.

The state law — which took effect on July 1st of last year — bars Tennessee doctors and nurses from providing medical care — including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries — to transgender people under 18.

Tennessee Republican lawmakers made passing the law their top priority during last year’s legislative session, giving it the honorary title of House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal and the private law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, sued to stop the ban from going into effect on behalf of a 16-year-old transgender girl, who received puberty blockers and estrogen therapy; a 13-year-old transgender boy, who received puberty blockers; and a 16-year-old transgender boy, who received puberty blockers and testosterone therapy, along with their parents and a doctor who treats transgender patients.

A federal court in Tennessee initially blocked the law in April. But the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that decision last year, allowing the law to go into effect while the Biden Administration appealed.

Tags Memphis, Republicans, Tennessee, transgender

News News Blog News Feature

Lawmakers Revisit West Tennessee Wetlands Development

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date October 4, 2024

Ford BlueOval City, photographed while under construction in April 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee lawmakers are revisiting plans to roll back state regulations that protect nearly half a million acres of Tennessee wetlands from development.

For months, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has elicited feedback from developers and conservation groups, at odds over state wetland policy, in order to achieve consensus.

Thursday’s meeting of the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee demonstrated how little agreement has been achieved thus far.

Allowing unchecked development on Tennessee’s wetlands — which serve to absorb floodwaters and replenish aquifers — could lead to flooding that will cost taxpayers “millions and millions of dollars down the road,” David Salyers, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), told lawmakers.

“There’s about seven million Tennesseans that hope we get this right,” Salyers said “There are future generations that depend on us to get this right.”

Developers, seeking to gain from building boom tied to Ford plant, push for weaker wetland rules

Salyer’s agency has proposed doubling the area of wetlands that can be developed without a state permit from a quarter-acre to half an acre. The agency has also proposed reducing costly payments from developers tied to the area of wetlands they propose to disturb. And it has proposed streamlining red tape.

TDEC’s recommendations followed the efforts earlier this year by Collierville Republican Kevin Vaughan, to significantly roll back wetland protections. Vaughan’s bill ultimately failed, but could be revived when the legislature reconvenes in January.

Developers who testified Thursday criticized TDEC recommendations for not going far enough to remove onerous hurdles that drive up project timelines and increase costs.

“We’re not looking at a broad redo of wetlands across the state…we’re not looking to damage the hunting lands that are out there. We’re not looking to create floods,” said Keith Grant, a West Tennessee developer, who noted that Tennessee currently has stricter protections over small and isolated wetlands than 24 states and the federal government.

Connecting the dots between Tenn.’s home builders and bill to deregulate construction on wetlands

“Why would Tennessee be more stringent in regulating wetlands than our federal government when regulation lowers property owners values and increases housing costs for tax paying citizens of Tennessee?” he said.

Conservationists, however, noted the increase in frequency of drought and flooding Tennessee has experienced in recent years, making the natural safeguards that wetlands provide even more vital.

“This is not the right time to turbocharge the hardening of our landscapes, but if we remove our wetlands protections that is exactly what will happen,” said George Nolan, director of the Tennessee office of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

There is no action expected on state wetlands policy until the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Tags development, Kevin Vaughn, Memphis, Southern Environmental Law Center, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee General Assembly, wetlands

News News Blog News Feature

As Waters Recede in East Tennessee, Officials Turn to the Long Recovery Ahead

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date October 1, 2024

A map from the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows road closures and compromised bridges in East Tennessee.

Four days after Hurricane Helene unleashed devastation across parts of rural East Tennessee, emergency officials are switching from rescue to recovery operations.

Scores of people are still reported missing — a number that has shifted up and down since Saturday — underscoring the immense challenges in accounting for residents in areas with no power, impassable roads, and limited cell service.

As of Monday night, 102 were missing in four counties, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), which stressed that the missing may include those cut off from roads and cell coverage. State officials confirmed at least six Tennessee weather-related deaths thus far, according to TEMA. They include three in Unicoi County, and one person in each of the following counties: Knox, Johnson, and Washington.

Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power, and hundreds of roads and bridges can’t be traveled, including nearly every road linking Tennessee to North Carolina. There is no official toll yet on the number of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. At least four wastewater treatment plants have been thrown offline due to flooding and water utilities in six counties have reported “operational issues,” according to TEMA.

“Search and damage assessments are ongoing and we’re beginning to be able to start to put the pieces back together,” said Myron Hughes, a public information officer for TEMA’s All-Hazards Incident Management Team.

Hotline to coordinate missing person reports: 800-824-3463

Hughes briefed reporters Monday, alongside public officials in hard-hit Unicoi County, where a dramatic and ultimately successful rescue operation unfolded Friday morning to airlift more than 60 staff and patients stranded on the rooftop of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin.

Unicoi County Emergency Management Director and Incident Commander Jim Erwin said personnel were conducting searches Monday, a task he expected to be complete in impacted areas by day’s end.

Meanwhile, residents and emergency crews continue to grapple with the damage left behind by high winds, rainfall and flooding in hard-hit counties, including Unicoi, Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Sevier, and Washington.

At Monday’s Unicoi County press conference, an unidentified man, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, pressed emergency responders for answers about why his still-missing wife wasn’t rescued as she and co-workers tried to flee rising waters Friday morning outside their workplace, Impact Plastics.

The 911 call system swas inundated and many of the county’s resources were deployed to Unicoi County Hospital, Erwin responded, and noted he was also at the hospital. A crew rescued four people fleeing Industrial Park, where the plastics factory was located, Erwin said, then had to turn back.

“They did not get further because water was already so high,” he said. “Some people were saved and we’re still searching. … We all have hopes that we will find some more alive. Our hearts are deep and we’ll be here to work with families.”

Gov. Bill Lee’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration was approved by the Biden Administration Saturday, activating Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) assistance in 12 Tennessee counties.

The Tennessee National Guard and first responders from outside the disaster region were dispatched to assist in search and recovery efforts.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation established a hotline number to coordinate reports of missing persons: The number is 800-824-3463.

Roads and bridges

In the first 36 hours following the disaster, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) assessed damages and inspected 100 bridges across seven counties.

“We still have hundreds to go,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Monday.

More than 300 TDOT employees have joined in the inspection efforts, but the task ahead will surpass the capacity of the state agency.

TDOT is in the process of awarding multiple debris removal and construction contracts to supplement state crews, with contracted work expected to begin later this week.

Dams and Rivers

Over the weekend, reports of imminent dam collapses led to evacuations in some areas. But on Monday a spokesperson for the Tennessee Valley Authority confirmed that all 49 of its dams are “stable and operating as designed.”

“We are assessing any transmission infrastructure impacts, which are minimal on the TVA system,” Scott Brooks, an agency spokesperson, said in an email.

Right now, they’re asking for water and people from all over are bringing water to us. Budweiser just brought an entire tractor-trailer full. … Rep. Dan Howell from Cleveland is sending water from his district. When you’ve got 37,000 people and no water, we’re so grateful for everybody doing that.
– Rep. Jeremy Faison, Cocke County Republican

Brooks said most of the damage is on local utility systems. TVA is working with local power companies on restoration and repairs, he said.

State Rep. Jeremy Faison, a Republican who represents hard-hit Cocke County, said thousands are without water after utilities were knocked offline. “So, literally, unless you’re on a well, you have no water in my county right now,” he said.

“Right now, they’re asking for water and people from all over are bringing water to us,” he said. “Budweiser just brought an entire tractor-trailer full. … Rep. Dan Howell from Cleveland is sending water from his district. When you’ve got 37,000 people and no water, we’re so grateful for everybody doing that.”

TVA is monitoring extensive flooding in its tributary dams, which control water movement throughout the power provider’s system. The extensive flooding in reservoirs has prompted record high releases at places, including Douglas Dam in Sevier county.

“We are aware these record releases are causing localized flooding on the Tennessee River,” Brooks said.

River levels monitored by TVA illustrated the enormity of rising water in the region. The French Broad River in Newport, Tenn, reached 23 feet — 13 feet above flood stage. The Pigeon River, also in Newport, set a new record stage of 28.9 feet, 20.9 feet over flood stage. And the Nolichucky River at the Nolichucky Dam in Greene County also recorded record high levels of water.

Senior reporter Sam Stockard contributed to this report.

Tags East Tennessee, flood, Hurricane Helene, Memphis, recovery efforts

News News Blog News Feature

Judge Allows TN Trans Bathroom Law to Stand

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date September 30, 2024

A federal judge has dismissed a legal challenge to Tennessee’s so-called “bathroom law,” leaving in place rules that require public schools to bar transgender students from the gendered bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

The decision by U.S. District Judge William Campbell keeps in effect the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act,” signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee in 2021.

The law requires schools to offer “reasonable accommodation” to transgender students and school staff, but specifically excludes access to a multi-use restrooms or changing facilities.

It says students and staff must make formal requests for accommodation, such as to use a standalone restroom, and a principal must approve or deny the request in writing. And it gives parents and teachers the right to sue a school district for monetary damages if transgender students use a restroom or locker room that doesn’t conform with their gender at birth.

Critics have said the law discriminates against transgender kids and school employees, and forces individuals to out themselves to their peers.

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy organization that served as legal counsel in the lawsuit, has not announced whether it plans to appeal the ruling, a spokesperson said Thursday.

Judge refuses to dismiss all claims by transgender child against state, Williamson County Schools

Eli Givens, a college sophomore and LGBTQ advocate with the Tennessee Equality Project, who is unconnected to the case, called the ruling “heart wrenching” and “terrifying” for trans kids and their parents.

“I had to miss out on classes frequently because I had to go to a bathroom on the other side of school,” said Givens, who came out as trans at age 11. “What do you do in a bathroom? You go in, use the restroom, wash your hands, and you leave.”

Parents of a third grade transgender student in Williamson County Schools first filed the legal challenge in 2022, arguing the law violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded programs.

Their child, who had been living as a girl since age six, was denied access to multi-occupancy restrooms and directed to a separate and unsanitary standalone restroom at a distance from her classroom.

The insistence that she use a separate restroom “isolates her and distinguishes her from her classmates and exacerbates the stress and anxiety she experiences while trying to fit in and avoid being stigmatized on the basis of her sex and gender identity,” the lawsuit said.

Campbell had previously shot down efforts by attorneys for Williamson County Schools and state education department to dismiss the lawsuit.

In his subsequent decision, issued September 4th, Campbell noted the legal landscape that has shifted since then.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, in separate decisions, has upheld two Tennessee laws aimed at transgender children and adults, including the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, he noted. The appeals court concluded gender identity is not recognized as a protected class. Under that standard set by the appeals court, Campbell said the lawsuit required a different analysis.

“Although Plaintiff identifies as a girl, the act prohibits her from using the facilities that correspond to her gender identity, while students who identify with their biological sex at birth are permitted to use such facilities,” Campbell wrote.

“However, the act and policy do not prefer one sex over the other, bestow benefits or burdens based on sex, or apply one rule for males and another for females,” the decision said.

Federal education officials have separately taken the position that Title IX protects transgender students access to facilities that conform with their gender identity.

In a separate and ongoing legal fight, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is leading a multi-state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over its position.

Tags bathroom bill, Memphis, Tennessee General Assembly, transgender

News News Blog

Judge Blocks Tennessee Ban on Helping a Minor Get Abortion Without Parental Consent

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date September 24, 2024

The Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building at 719 Church St. in Nashville, Tenn. Photograph by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout

A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of Tennessee’s so-called “abortion trafficking law,” which subjects adults who aid minors in getting an abortion without parental permission to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits.

In a lengthy opinion, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger concluded the law is likely to be found to be an unconstitutional ban on protected speech about a procedure that, while largely banned in Tennessee, is legally available in other states.

The law outlaws the “recruitment” of a minor to obtain an abortion, a term the judge concluded was so ill-defined it could encompass a wide range of conversations about abortion, including simply telling a pregnant teen about all of her options.

“Tennessee, in other words, has chosen to outlaw certain communications in furtherance of abortions that are, in fact, entirely legal,” the decision, released Friday, said. “It is, therefore, a basic constitutional fact — which Tennessee has no choice but to accept — that as long as there are states in which abortion is permissible, then abortion will be potentially available to Tennesseans.”

From Judge Trauger’s decision:

“A teenager might be convinced to pursue an abortion by being told that she has great educational potential and should focus on her schooling, or she might be convinced by receiving information regarding childcare costs.

She could be convinced by being told, accurately, that there are many religious congregations that would not condemn her decision to terminate a pregnancy, or she might be convinced by having her exaggerated medical fears about complications assuaged. She might even be convinced simply by being told that, whatever she does, she is entitled to love and support.

Every such statement, if made to an unemancipated minor considering abortion with the intention of helping the minor choose the correct course for her—including, potentially, by obtaining a legal abortion—could lead to criminal prosecution under the recruitment provision.”

The lawsuit was brought by state Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat and social worker, who has publicly advocated for abortion rights, and Rachel Welty, a Nashville attorney who describes herself as an “advocate for safe and healthy access to abortion care.” They are represented in the case by Nashville attorneys Daniel Horwitz and Sarah Martin.

Both women said they did not know if the information and advocacy they provided would be interpreted as “recruiting” a minor for abortion and subjecting them to felony arrest and prosecution.

Before filing suit, Welty sent a letter to district attorneys in Middle Tennessee seeking “assurances and/or clarification of their intentions regarding the enforcement of the law.” None of the district attorneys responded.

Behn, in an emailed statement Monday, criticized the bill as being “pushed by special interests and their bought-and-paid-for legislators to test how far they can go in undermining our constitutional rights.”

Friday’s preliminary injunction prevents the law from being enforced pending a trial in the case, which has not yet been scheduled. In issuing the order, Trauger rejected an effort by state lawyers to dismiss the case entirely or to confine her injunction against enforcing the law to only the two women filing suit.

“Welty and Behn do not just have a right to speak their message,” Trauger wrote. “They have a right to live in a state where that message can be repeated by all who find it valuable to all who wish to hear it. Otherwise, there would be no actual freedom of speech — just freedom of a few speakers to address a silenced populace.”

Trauger also shot down an argument by lawyers defending the law that it was rooted in the state’s “compelling interest in safeguarding the wellbeing of children and protecting the relationship between children and their parents.”

The law, Trauger wrote, “completely fails to explain how the recruitment provision is tailored to address … the wellbeing of Tennessee children. If anything, it is particularly striking for its lack of any provision focusing on the best interests of the minor at issue.”

teen trafficking Download

Tags minor abortion, teen abortion, Tennessee Lookout

News News Blog News Feature

Shelby County, an HIV Hotspot, Forfeited $3M in Federal HIV Funding

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date September 12, 2024

Photo by Mathurin NAPOLY / matnapo on Unsplash

Shelby County continues to experience one of the highest HIV rates in the nation – designated one of 48 “hotspots” that are collectively responsible for half of all new U.S. infections.

Despite the urgent need for intervention, the Shelby County Health Department has had to forfeit more than $3 million of the $8.6 million in federal HIV prevention funding it has received in the past five years, according to information provided to lawmakers by the Tennessee Department of Health.

The funding came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which – until last year – provided Tennessee with annual HIV prevention funding, distributed through the Tennessee Department of Health to local health departments and nonprofit organizations. Between 2019 and 2023, Shelby County’s share of the funding ranged from $816,000 to $1.7 million annually.

But in four of the past five fiscal years, Shelby County failed to tap all available CDC dollars. The money can be used to purchase HIV tests, hire public health workers to administer them and perform contact tracing to identify potentially additional cases. Last year, the county drew down just $410,000 of its $1.5 million grant.

In an August 23 letter to lawmakers highlighting the unspent funds, Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ralph Alvarado blamed CDC bureaucratic red tape and understaffing by the Shelby County Health Department.

Alvarado-Letter Download

A spokesperson for the Shelby County Health Department, in turn, blamed delays in executing contracts with the state health department, a process that also requires approval by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners and acceptance by county contracting officials.

The spokesperson also cited the Covid pandemic’s lingering impact over the past four years, as reassigned sexual health workers limited the number of HIV investigations funded by the grants.

Dr. Ralph Alvarado, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Losing out on $3 million in HIV funding in Shelby County has troubled advocates who work with limited budgets to educate, test, and provide resources to individuals impacted by HIV.

“Folks are making decisions between $3,000 medications and a roof over their heads,” said Cherisse Scott, CEO of Sister Reach, a Memphis reproductive health organization.

Sister Reach operates mobile vans that travel into underserved communities to offer testing and support. At $63 per HIV test, it’s a struggle to provide the service, she said. “The fact is those dollars have not trickled down” Scott said.

Rep. G.A. Hardaway, a Memphis Democrat, said Wednesday he planned to discuss the HIV expenditures with Shelby County health officials and local HIV advocates – and potentially the Tennessee Comptroller’s office, which is charged with investigating uses of public funding.

“Anytime we have federal dollars that cannot be spent in a timely fashion, we have to figure out why,” said Hardaway, who noted that local health officials may not have been in a position to responsibly spend money that came to them late in a grant cycle.

“We don’t want to get into a pattern where there’s too much red tape or we’re creating a situation where people are being rushed into spending in a way that would be ineffective,” he said.

Rising HIV rates

The letter from Dr. Alvarado outlining Shelby County HIV spending was sent in response to questions from Democratic lawmakers concerned that teens seeking HIV tests, along with other healthcare services, were being turned away from public health clinics if they did not have a parent’s permission.

Public health clinics began turning away unaccompanied teens on July 1st, shortly after Gov. Bill Lee signed a new state law requiring parental consent for healthcare services, the Lookout reported.

The state health department has since reversed course, instructing public health clinics to resume providing sexually transmitted disease testing and birth control to teens.

Rising rates of HIV in Shelby County sparked concern earlier this year when the Tennessee Department of Health and the Shelby County Health Department jointly issued a news alert. “Shelby County is experiencing a peak in a six-year trend of increasing HIV and syphilis infections,” Tennessee Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tim Jones said in the new release. “Testing is critical in reducing these rates.”

The release noted a 36 percent increase in HIV rates in Shelby County since 2018 and a 40 percent increase among those 15- to 19-years old between 2018 and 2023.

The news has prompted renewed action among nonprofit advocates to stem the growing rates of HIV.

Conflicting disease data

But in his August 23rd letter to lawmakers, Dr. Alvarado said the number of newly diagnosed HIV infections have decreased in the past 14 months – a message at direct odds with previous public statements from his department.

Dr. Alvarado noted there had been a two-year backlog in investigating HIV cases at the Shelby County Health Department. Once the backlog was resolved, he noted, “there was not a significant, acute spike or ‘outbreak’ indicated, as reported by the press.”

Tennessee public clinics resume offering birth control, sexual disease tests to unaccompanied teens

The letter does not make clear how resolving the backlog in investigations resulted in fewer reported cases. Investigations, which include contact tracing to identify and test intimate partners, may result in more positive cases rather than fewer. The state health department did not respond to questions about the investigations.

Dr. Alvarado provided lawmakers with charts showing the number of HIV infections in Shelby County decreased from 358 in 2022 to 329 in 2023. Among teens in the county, the number of new infections increased from 22 to 37 during the same time period.

The data provided uses infection numbers, not rates of infections – a typical public health metric previously cited in health department press releases about HIV prevalence in Shelby County that measures the number of infections compared to population size.

The department did not respond to numerous requests seeking clarity on HIV infections in Shelby County.

Dr. Alvarado noted that the decrease in the number of HIV infections coincided with the rejection of federal HIV funding from the CDC by the Lee administration. Last year, Lee announced he would forgo all future CDC HIV prevention funding in a move widely seen as a politically-motivated effort to block the federal dollars from also going to Planned Parenthood clinics in Tennessee.

The state has since allocated its own funding for HIV prevention efforts. Shelby County this year received $1.7 million in state dollars and has thus far spent $885,000 on prevention efforts.

Tags G.A. Hardaway, HIV in Shelby County, Memphis, Ralph Alvarado, shelby county department of health, Tennessee Department of Health

News News Blog News Feature

Democrats Seek Answers After Surge in HIV/Syphilis in Shelby County

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date August 12, 2024

Amid a surge in HIV and syphilis cases in Shelby County, a group of Democratic lawmakers is pressing state health officials for answers.

Cases of HIV and syphilis in the Memphis region increased by 100 percent over the past five years, according to the Shelby County Department of Health, which has, thus far, not released total case numbers. Among young people aged 15 to 19, diagnosed cases increased 150 percent.

“This disturbing trend underscores the urgent need for effective public health strategies and resources to combat the spread of these infections,” read the letter, sent late last week.

The lawmakers are demanding an explanation from Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ralph Alvarado about a series of state policy changes that they believe are exacerbating the crisis, rather than addressing it.

Among the changes: a new parental rights law requiring parental consent for teens seeking healthcare services.

The Lookout reported last month that the Tennessee Department of Health quietly instructed public health clinics to turn away teens seeking access to routine healthcare without a parent, citing new legislation known as the Family Rights and Responsibilities Act.

Dept. of Health denying teens preventative healthcare, citing new parental consent law

It’s a significant shift in policy for teens accustomed to seeking out birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing, pregnancy tests, and routine healthcare in public health clinics — which serve as the only accessible source of healthcare for teens living in some rural Tennessee communities.

Advocates have warned that the way the Department of Health is interpreting the new law — by concluding it supersedes prior laws that allow teens to access birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing — will deter young people from visiting clinics entirely, exacerbating outbreaks of sexually transmitted disease.

The Department of Health has not yet publicly acknowledged the shift in policy for teens and did not respond to a renewed request for information from the Lookout on Tuesday.

“There hasn’t been anything concrete in writing,” said Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat. “There hasn’t been any communication from the commissioner.”

Behn said she is concerned that the growing influence of a parental rights movement in Tennessee, which has ushered in a series of laws in recent years giving parents more legal control over teens, shares blame for the surge in HIV and syphilis cases among young people.

“The actual, tangible consequence of the movement is this public health crisis,” she said.

The Democrats are also seeking information on how Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to reject federal HIV funding is impacting the current Shelby County outbreaks.

The reality is this is 2024. Teens are having sex. What they don’t have is the information they need.
Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis

Last year Lee announced he would reject millions in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for HIV prevention and treatment that previously went to Planned Parenthood clinics in Tennessee.

GOP lawmakers have, for years, fought to remove public funding from the clinics, which also provided abortion services until the state’s strict ban took effect in 2022.

Sen. London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat who signed onto the letter, cited another GOP backed measure as contributing to the current outbreak in Shelby County.

A so-called “Gateway Law” enacted by GOP lawmakers in 2012 requires abstinence-only sexual education in public schools.

“The reality is this is 2024. Teens are having sex. What they don’t have is the information they need,” she said.

Tags Bill Lee, HIV, London Lamar, Memphis, Tennessee Lookout

News News Blog News Feature

Former Shelby Vaccine Chief Loses Bid to Clear Name After Botched Rollout

Post author By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout
Post date July 10, 2024

The late Rep. Barbara Cooper of Memphis gets vaccinated against COVID-19 in February 2021. (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht)

The former leader of Shelby County’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has lost a legal bid to declare she was wrongly blamed for allowing hundreds of doses to expire during the pandemic.

Judy Martin, Shelby County’s former chief of nursing and immunizations, lost her job amid public fallout over the lost doses in early 2022.

Martin had reported 1,000 expired doses she discovered during an inventory. With even more doses set to go bad, she loaded hundreds of vaccines into her car to take to a local prison. But a snowstorm in Memphis scuttled those plans. She left 700 doses in the car and told nobody, legal filings said.

When news broke that Shelby County had allowed even more doses to expire than initially reported, Martin retired in order to avoid being fired.

“I learned that the information regarding the level of vaccine that expired in Shelby County was not accurate,” Mayor Lee Harris soon tweeted. “We have terminated the site manager who managed the relationship with the pharmacy and allegedly provided the initial false information.”

Martin sued the county alleging the tweet was defamatory and asserted her right to a “name-clearing hearing.” A federal court in Memphis dismissed those claims, siding with the county.

On Tuesday the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals again sided with the county in a ruling that concluded Martin had not suffered any harm from the mayor’s tweet. The ruling noted Martin had received community support amid the controversy, the nursing board took no disciplinary action against her and that she was able to land quickly in another job.

“Getting fired is unpleasant,” the ruling said. “And having that termination broadcast is even more so. But the Constitution of the United States says little about lost jobs and nothing about this one.”

Sixth-Circuit-Martin Download

Tags COVID-19, Judy Martin, Memphis, Shelby County Health Department, Vaccine rollout in Memphis