FORT LAUDERDALE -- Residents who live near the old Wingate Landfill were expected to voice concerns Tuesday night during a city commission meeting about concerns about the closed Wingate landfill.
Sharon Alexander and April Young live near the landfill site off NW 31st Avenue just north of Sunrise in Fort Lauderdale and they said they are concerned about what happened during the closure process.
"This site has not been cleaned up properly and we need to have this cleaned," said Alexander, who fears it was not fully decontaminated when it closed in 1978. "I want the city to come out, bring the proper people out here to test the soil to clean up the soil, the homes the families that surround the area to make sure they got proper testing make sure they get adequate care for all of their health crisis as a result of this being here for 72 years in the community."
>>>EPA database on Wingate site: Click here
The residents said they planned to bring photos and death certificates of neighbors and family who have passed away,
They tell us they want to put a face to health issues they believe stem from the landfill.
"On my street this year alone we've already lost four residents all due to cancer or cancer-related illnesses (that were) unknown to them until it's pretty much too late," Young said.
Todd Hiteshew, environmental compliance manager for the city of Fort Lauderdale, said: "Clean up was completed in 2002 based on EPA oversight of the site.
"The EPA had oversight, doing monitoring for decades," he said. "We've been able to get to the point where we don't have to monitor anymore for groundwater. EPA has signed off on that."
Hiteshew said a cap was placed over the landfill, under two feet of dirt, keeping rain water off the ash in the landfill, meaning there will not be contaminated runoff. Now the land is set to be home to a new movie studio.
"They're going to redevelop the site into a movie studio complex which would be a reuse of the property, which is the ultimate goal for super fund sites to get them to be reusable basically in the community," Hiteshew said.
Sharon and April said they plan to continue to push for more clean-up, monitoring and health care.
"Our infrastructure system needs to be updated for quality of water for our people, as well as the quality of air and the quality of our soils," Young said.
Hiteshew said the EPA still checks out the site every five years and the next inspection is due in 2026.
Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center has become the first facility in the nation to earn a Health Care Equity Certification from The Joint Commission.
The certification recognizes the efforts of Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health to address and Strengthen healthcare equity across all of its networks, including its ASCs and hospitals, according to an Aug. 22 press release.
To receive the certification, health systems must have a formal structure in place to address health equity across all facilities. They must be actively collecting, analyzing and acting on data points related to patient care, communication, socioeconomic information, staff education and policies.
HUMC underwent an onsite review in which a team of surveyors evaluated over 40 program-specific standards, including quality and safety measures for clinical conditions based on sociodemographic characteristics, a comparison of the race, ethnicity and languages spoken by staff members in relation to demographics of the community, employee opinions of cultural safety, and a healthcare equity performance improvement plan.
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Altria seeks US import ban on Juul e-vapor products
Marlboro maker Altria Group said on Tuesday that its subsidiary e-cigarette firm NJOY has filed a complaint against rival Juul Labs with the U.S. International Trade Commission, seeking a ban on the import and sale of Juul products. The move escalates a dispute between the two e-cigarette makers after Juul filed a similar patent infringement case against NJOY at the ITC in June.
US FDA approves Pfizer's maternal RSV vaccine to protect infants
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Pfizer's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for use in women during the middle of the third trimester of pregnancy to protect their babies. The approval allows the vaccine to be given to women 32 to 36 weeks into a pregnancy to prevent lower respiratory tract infection and severe disease in infants until they are six months old, the company said.
US govt awards $1.4 billion for development of new COVID therapies, vaccines
The U.S. government said on Tuesday it had awarded $1.4 billion for the development of new therapies and vaccines against COVID-19, including a $326 million contract with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for a next-generation antibody therapy for prevention of infections. The funding to Regeneron is a part of a $5 billion initiative dubbed "Project NextGen" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
3M names Bryan Hanson as CEO of its health care business
3M Co said on Tuesday that Bryan Hanson would be the chief executive officer of the healthcare company it plans to spin off. 3M last year disclosed plans to spin off its healthcare business into a listed company, in which the U.S. industrial giant would retain a 19.9% stake. The company expects to complete the spinoff by the end of 2023.
US FDA panel backs Otsuka's blood pressure treatment device
A panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday recommended the use of a device made by a unit of Otsuka Holdings in a type of surgery to treat high blood pressure. The FDA panel backed the use of the device made by the Japanese company's unit ReCor for renal denervation, which is indicated for use in patients whose hypertension, or high blood pressure, cannot be controlled with drugs.
Novavax's updated COVID shot shows immune response against subvariant Eris
Novavax Inc said on Tuesday its updated protein-based COVID-19 vaccine generated an immune response against emerging forms of coronavirus such as the "Eris" subvariant in small studies in animals. COVID infections and hospitalizations have been rising in the United States, Europe and Asia, with more cases in recent months attributed to the EG.5 subvariant — nicknamed "Eris" — a descendant of the Omicron lineage that originally emerged in November 2021.
Indivior to pay $30 million to settle health plans' Suboxone claims
Indivior has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in a U.S. court by health plans accusing the drugmaker of illegally suppressing generic competition for its opioid addiction treatment Suboxone. The settlement, disclosed on Saturday in a filing by lawyers for the health plans in federal court in Philadelphia, must still be approved by a judge. Indivior is still facing claims by drug wholesalers that bought Suboxone from the Virginia-based company directly, with a trial scheduled in October.
US FDA puts Gilead Sciences blood cancer drug studies on hold
Gilead Sciences said on Monday the U.S. health regulator placed a clinical hold on studies of its blood cancer drug, just a month after the company scrapped a late-stage trial due to efficacy concerns. The company gained access to the drug, magrolimab, with its $4.9 billion buyout of Forty Seven Inc in March 2020.
Boehringer latest to sue US over drug price negotiation plan
Boehringer Ingelheim sued the U.S. government in an attempt to block a program that gives the Medicare health insurance plan the power to negotiate lower drug prices, joining other drugmakers and business groups claiming that it would stifle development of new medicines. In a complaint filed on Friday in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, the privately-held German drugmaker said the program violates the U.S. Constitution by giving federal regulators too much power to dictate drug prices.
Medtronic raises profit forecast as surgeries return to pre-pandemic levels
Medtronic on Tuesday raised its annual profit forecast as the return of non-urgent surgery volumes to pre-pandemic levels boosted demand for its medical devices, sending its shares up 3%. Medtronic, which makes pacemakers, catheters and other tools used in heart and gastrointestinal surgeries, joins rivals, including Abbott Laboratories, Stryker and Boston Scientific, on benefiting from a rise in non-urgent surgeries.
(With inputs from agencies.)
