Illinois
Federal judge rules law banning concealed carry on public transit unconstitutional
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that an Illinois law banning the concealed carry of firearms on public transit is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston in Rockford ruled last Friday with four gun owners who filed a lawsuit in 2022 contending that their inability to carry weapons on buses and trains violated their Second Amendment right to self-defense.
Johnston relied on a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case from 2022 that established that gun laws must be consistent with conditions found in the late 1700s when the Bill of Rights was composed. No regulation on where weapons could be carried existed.
Illinois became the nation’s last state to approve concealed carry in 2013. The law established a number of places that were off limits to guns, such as public arenas, hospitals, buses and trains.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul said through a spokesperson that he was reviewing the decision and would likely appeal.
He noted that until there’s a final judgment in the matter, gun owners should continue to abide by concealed-carry provisions; Johnston’s ruling currently applies only to the four plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit.
Oregon
Hospital hit with $303M lawsuit after nurse is accused of replacing fentanyl with tap water
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Attorneys representing both living and deceased patients of an Oregon hospital filed a $303 million lawsuit against the facility on Tuesday after a nurse was accused of replacing prescribed fentanyl with nonsterile tap water in intravenous drips.
The wrongful death and medical malpractice complaint accuses Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford of negligence. The suit says the hospital failed to monitor medication administration procedures and prevent drug diversion by their employees, among other claims.
A spokesperson said the hospital had no comment.
Dani Marie Schofield, a former nurse at the hospital, was arrested in June and charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault. The charges stemmed from a police investigation into the theft and misuse of controlled substances that resulted in patient infections. She has pleaded not guilty.
Schofield is not named or listed as a defendant in the complaint filed Tuesday. A separate suit was filed against Schofield and the hospital earlier this year on behalf of the estate of a 65-year-old man who
died.
The 18 plaintiffs in the new suit include nine patients and the estates of nine patients who died. According to the suit, the hospital began informing them in December that an employee had replaced fentanyl with tap water, causing bacterial infections.
“All Plaintiff Patients were infected with bacterium uniquely associated with waterborne transmission,” the complaint says.
All of the plaintiffs experienced mental anguish, according to the suit, which seeks millions of dollars in damages for medical expenses, lost income and the pain and suffering of those who died.
Medford police began investigating late last year, after hospital officials noticed a troubling spike in central line infections from July 2022 through July 2023 and told police they believed an employee had been diverting fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has helped fuel the nation’s overdose epidemic, but it is also used in legitimate medical settings to relieve severe pain. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding problem.
Washington
Supreme Court won’t allow Oklahoma to reclaim federal money in dispute over abortion referrals
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Oklahoma’s emergency appeal seeking to restore a $4.5 million grant for family planning services in an ongoing dispute over the state’s refusal to refer pregnant women to a nationwide hotline that provides information about abortion and other options.
The brief order did not detail the court’s reasoning, as is typical, but says three justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — would have sided with Oklahoma.
Lower courts had ruled that the federal Health and Human Services Department’s decision to cut off Oklahoma from the funds did not violate federal law.
The case stems from a dispute over state abortion restrictions and federal grants provided under a family planning program known as Title X that has only grown more heated since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and many Republican-led states outlawed abortion.
Clinics cannot use federal family planning money to pay for abortions, but they must offer information about abortion at the patient’s request, under the federal regulation at issue. The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Oklahoma argues that it can’t comply with a requirement to provide abortion counseling and referrals because the state’s abortion ban makes it a crime for “any person to advise or procure an abortion for any woman.”
The administration said it offered an accommodation that would allow referrals to the national hotline, but the state rejected that as insufficient. The federal government then cut off the state’s Title X funds.
In 2021, the Biden administration reversed a ban on abortion referrals by clinics that accept Title X funds. The restriction was initially enacted during the Donald Trump administration in 2019, but the policy has swung back and forth for years, depending upon who is in the White House.
Tennessee is pursuing a similar lawsuit that remains in the lower courts. Oklahoma and 10 other states also are mounting a separate challenge to the federal regulation.
Oklahoma says it distributes the money to around 70 city and county health departments for family planning, infertility help and services for adolescents. For rural communities especially, the government-run health facilities can be “the only access points for critical preventative services for tens or even hundreds of miles,” Oklahoma said in its Supreme Court filing.
Federal judge rules law banning concealed carry on public transit unconstitutional
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that an Illinois law banning the concealed carry of firearms on public transit is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston in Rockford ruled last Friday with four gun owners who filed a lawsuit in 2022 contending that their inability to carry weapons on buses and trains violated their Second Amendment right to self-defense.
Johnston relied on a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case from 2022 that established that gun laws must be consistent with conditions found in the late 1700s when the Bill of Rights was composed. No regulation on where weapons could be carried existed.
Illinois became the nation’s last state to approve concealed carry in 2013. The law established a number of places that were off limits to guns, such as public arenas, hospitals, buses and trains.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul said through a spokesperson that he was reviewing the decision and would likely appeal.
He noted that until there’s a final judgment in the matter, gun owners should continue to abide by concealed-carry provisions; Johnston’s ruling currently applies only to the four plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit.
Oregon
Hospital hit with $303M lawsuit after nurse is accused of replacing fentanyl with tap water
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Attorneys representing both living and deceased patients of an Oregon hospital filed a $303 million lawsuit against the facility on Tuesday after a nurse was accused of replacing prescribed fentanyl with nonsterile tap water in intravenous drips.
The wrongful death and medical malpractice complaint accuses Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford of negligence. The suit says the hospital failed to monitor medication administration procedures and prevent drug diversion by their employees, among other claims.
A spokesperson said the hospital had no comment.
Dani Marie Schofield, a former nurse at the hospital, was arrested in June and charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault. The charges stemmed from a police investigation into the theft and misuse of controlled substances that resulted in patient infections. She has pleaded not guilty.
Schofield is not named or listed as a defendant in the complaint filed Tuesday. A separate suit was filed against Schofield and the hospital earlier this year on behalf of the estate of a 65-year-old man who
died.
The 18 plaintiffs in the new suit include nine patients and the estates of nine patients who died. According to the suit, the hospital began informing them in December that an employee had replaced fentanyl with tap water, causing bacterial infections.
“All Plaintiff Patients were infected with bacterium uniquely associated with waterborne transmission,” the complaint says.
All of the plaintiffs experienced mental anguish, according to the suit, which seeks millions of dollars in damages for medical expenses, lost income and the pain and suffering of those who died.
Medford police began investigating late last year, after hospital officials noticed a troubling spike in central line infections from July 2022 through July 2023 and told police they believed an employee had been diverting fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has helped fuel the nation’s overdose epidemic, but it is also used in legitimate medical settings to relieve severe pain. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding problem.
Washington
Supreme Court won’t allow Oklahoma to reclaim federal money in dispute over abortion referrals
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Oklahoma’s emergency appeal seeking to restore a $4.5 million grant for family planning services in an ongoing dispute over the state’s refusal to refer pregnant women to a nationwide hotline that provides information about abortion and other options.
The brief order did not detail the court’s reasoning, as is typical, but says three justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — would have sided with Oklahoma.
Lower courts had ruled that the federal Health and Human Services Department’s decision to cut off Oklahoma from the funds did not violate federal law.
The case stems from a dispute over state abortion restrictions and federal grants provided under a family planning program known as Title X that has only grown more heated since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and many Republican-led states outlawed abortion.
Clinics cannot use federal family planning money to pay for abortions, but they must offer information about abortion at the patient’s request, under the federal regulation at issue. The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Oklahoma argues that it can’t comply with a requirement to provide abortion counseling and referrals because the state’s abortion ban makes it a crime for “any person to advise or procure an abortion for any woman.”
The administration said it offered an accommodation that would allow referrals to the national hotline, but the state rejected that as insufficient. The federal government then cut off the state’s Title X funds.
In 2021, the Biden administration reversed a ban on abortion referrals by clinics that accept Title X funds. The restriction was initially enacted during the Donald Trump administration in 2019, but the policy has swung back and forth for years, depending upon who is in the White House.
Tennessee is pursuing a similar lawsuit that remains in the lower courts. Oklahoma and 10 other states also are mounting a separate challenge to the federal regulation.
Oklahoma says it distributes the money to around 70 city and county health departments for family planning, infertility help and services for adolescents. For rural communities especially, the government-run health facilities can be “the only access points for critical preventative services for tens or even hundreds of miles,” Oklahoma said in its Supreme Court filing.
