Hear Georgia NOW

Category: Health

  • South and Southwest Georgia Experience Highest Infant Mortality Rates, Report Finds

    South and Southwest Georgia Experience Highest Infant Mortality Rates, Report Finds

    South and Southwest Georgia Experience Highest Infant Mortality Rates, Report Finds

    Infant mortality rates vary sharply across Georgia, with the highest death rates concentrated in rural and southern regions, according to the 2025 State of the State Report from the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia (HMHBGA).

    HMHBGA mapping shows that Georgia’s Southwest (Albany), West Central (Columbus) and South Central (Dublin) public health districts recorded the highest infant mortality rates last year, reaching 10 to 11 deaths per 1,000 live births. In contrast, lower rates — between 5 and 6 — were found in North Georgia (Dalton) and the North district (Gainesville).

    The report also highlights major racial disparities between public health districts. Regions such as Southeast (Waycross), North Central (Macon) and West Central (Columbus) reported Black–white infant mortality gaps ranging from 9 to 16 deaths per 1,000 live births, some of the widest disparities in the state. Meanwhile, districts like Northeast (Athens) and Southwest (Albany) showed smaller gaps of up to four deaths per 1,000.

    These geographic differences mirror patterns in provider access. Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that maternal mortality and infant health outcomes are often worse in communities with fewer obstetric clinicians or where prenatal care is limited. March of Dimes has identified more than a third of U.S. counties as maternity care deserts, where residents lack access to birthing hospitals, OB-GYNs or midwives.

    Advocates say the uneven distribution of healthcare resources leaves families in many parts of Georgia without timely prenatal support. State lawmakers have expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage and invested in maternal home-visiting programs, but experts warn that improving outcomes requires earlier and more consistent access to care.

    HMHBGA said the geographic trends reflect “pronounced disparities in infant health outcomes,” particularly in rural and economically distressed regions of the state. The organization’s findings show that where a family lives remains a major predictor of infant health and survival.

  • ‘It would really be detrimental’: GA hemp businesses worry about new federal THC cap

    ‘It would really be detrimental’: GA hemp businesses worry about new federal THC cap

    ‘It would really be detrimental’: GA hemp businesses worry about new federal THC cap

    Frogtown Hemp is an old, family farm in Dahlonega, Georgia, that dates back to 1896.

    Due to the recent funding bill that passed through Congress, it might all be in jeopardy.

    The legislation that ended the federal government shutdown included a provision that limits hemp products to 0.4 milligrams of THC per package. A typical hemp gummy or beverage contains 2.5 to 10 milligrams of THC, according to Clark Hill News.

    Lacey White, one of the owners of Frogtown Hemp, said the new legislation would impact all of their products. The bill has a one-year implementation period, which gives producers a little time to figure out next steps.

    “I think it’s really important that we get out there, and we voice our opinions. The supporters, I really find it important that they speak to the Congress and to send out letters and just to speak as much as you can.”

    Lacey and her family are stuck in limbo unsure about buying more products that they might not be able to in a year.

    “You get benefits from the THC side and the CBD side, and so pretty much to eliminate how little that they want, you’re having to dilute both, and it would really be detrimental to us,” Lacey said.

    Georgia has around 4,100 licensed hemp businesses, including farmers, manufacturers, processors, retailers and wholesalers, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    Lacey said people should do their research about the products. People have experienced side effects from the synthetic Delta-8 products, and Frogtown doesn’t have those types of synthetic materials in their products.

    “Sometimes people will say, ‘How can I get high on your products?’ Well, that’s not what we’re here for. We’re not here for you to get high, we’re here for you to get a benefit,” she said. 

    The benefits of hemp

    Lacey said their inspiration to move into hemp farming came from their dogs. Their older dogs were getting arthritis, and they were looking at ways to manage their pain without using pharmaceuticals.

    “We just started learning a lot of the benefits from CBD, and that really triggered our interest into wanting to grow it and help people,” Lacey said.

    Lacey and her dad, Bruce, said they have several customers that reap benefits from using their products.

    “We have a client who takes this to help with their tremors from Parkinson’s disease. It helps with pain management, with sleep, sundowners for Alzheimer’s with elderly patients,” she said. “It would be very sad to see our products that we’re getting this good feedback from just all of a sudden not be available.”

    Joe Salome, the co-founder of The Georgia Hemp Company, said his first experience with hemp and cannabis products was helping his mom recover from ovarian cancer. 

    “We believe, and the doctors believe, that it helped her body heal quicker and faster and recover at a higher rate,” he said.

    Synthetic products give a bad rap

    Salome said synthetic products started to give the hemp industry a bad reputation.

    “Products that weren’t clean, they weren’t coming from reputable distributors or manufacturers, and when that happens, like my dad always said, ‘If you hang out with bad people, you’re going to get grouped in with them,’” he said. “We may not have been hanging out with them, but we’re in the same industry, so at the end of the day, our natural industry is brought down by a synthetic.”

    The Georgia Hemp Company takes a community approach to selling the products by talking with customers and seeing their particular needs, but with the new federal bill, they might not be able to continue their business, he said.

    “Everything I just described to you about where we came from and what we built on was the ‘why’ of what people needed when they came in here, and it felt really good to be able to do that. That ‘why’ is being taken away at the federal level now with this new bill, potentially wiping out 98% of what we have on our shelves,” he said.

    Lacey said she believes the legislature should be more concerned with synthetic products, such as Kratom. Kratom is sold as an unregulated herbal supplement in the U.S. and can have serious side effects, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

    “I think we want sensible regulated cannabis… What’s going to happen is a huge vacuum, and if we thought the black market was bad before, it’s going to be even worse moving forward,” Salome said. “I don’t sell Kratom, right? I don’t sell tobacco. I’m not selling alcohol. I’m not a vice store. So I’m not like these other places that are just selling synthetic Kratom or mushroom gummies. That’s not what we do.”

    Although CBD is where Salome’s company started, he said that’s not where the industry is currently.

    “We have to have hope that the good players in our industry, the national organizations, these big businesses, these brands that you’re seeing at a high level, we’re going to come together and recommend sensible legislation for them to help this industry sustain,” he said.

  • Georgia advocates warn of rising tobacco risks after CDC closes smoking and health office

    Georgia advocates warn of rising tobacco risks after CDC closes smoking and health office

    Georgia advocates warn of rising tobacco risks after CDC closes smoking and health office

    The Great American Smokeout, an annual event to encourage people to quit smoking, starts Thursday, and Georgia organizations said their work is more important than ever.

    The Office of Smoking and Health was recently dismantled at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causing the end of the nation’s leading public health authority on tobacco research and prevention. This is creating new gaps in support for organizations like No Menthol Movement ATL.

    Nearly one in five adults in Georgia uses tobacco, and more than 18% of high school students also report using it, according to Public News Service.

    D’Jillisser Kelly, lead project coordinator for No Menthol Movement ATL, told the Public News Service that menthol products are made to hide the taste and to be addictive.

    “More than ever right now, we have to continue to be boots on the ground,” Kelly stressed. “We are being informative, we’re educating, and we’re training our young ones up to be able to advocate.”

    Kelly said the African American community has been specifically targeted with marketing strategies, which has had extreme negative consequences.

    “Eighty-five percent of African Americans use menthol cigarettes, and that was by design,” Kelly contended. “The industry has been targeting our communities for numerous of years from the 1960s all the way to where we are now.”

    The No Menthol Movement ATL was launched in 2020, and Kelly said the need for their work is growing.

    In the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control report, Georgia received failing grades in all categories, and tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in Georgia, killing nearly 12,000 people a year.

    No Menthol Movement ATL will host its “Amp Up the Block” event Nov. 20 to mark the Great American Smokeout at the West End Library from 3-5 p.m.

  • Environmental Concerns Rise as Georgia Data Centers Multiply

    Environmental Concerns Rise as Georgia Data Centers Multiply

    Environmental Concerns Rise as Georgia Data Centers Multiply

    As Georgia becomes one of the nation’s fastest-growing data center hubs, communities and environmental groups warn of mounting risks to water supplies, wildlife habitat and the electric grid.

    In rural Twiggs County, residents are fighting a proposed data center complex they say could overwhelm limited water resources and reshape the local landscape. Nancy Lubeck told Georgia News Connection that county leaders have not provided basic information about how much water or electricity the facility would require.

    “Nobody really seems to know the impact of the water and the electrical,” Lubeck said.

    Residents are asking for a delay and for independent studies on water demand, grid impacts and community health. They have also filed a lawsuit challenging the rezoning — arguing the public was not properly notified and that required transportation reviews were missing.

    The proposed facility borders the Ocmulgee corridor, an area under consideration for national park status and home to Georgia’s most isolated black bear population. Lubeck said constant noise and lighting could drive the animals out.

    “This may be the beginning of the end for the bears,” she told Georgia News Connection.

    Concerns reach beyond rural counties. In Fayette County, residents protested newly installed high-voltage transmission lines built to serve a hyperscale data center.

    Georgia Power’s Expanding Role

    The Ledger-Enquirer reported that data center growth is also reshaping Georgia Power’s long-term energy planning. The utility has told state regulators that rising electricity demand from hyperscale data centers is contributing to its push for new natural gas units, expanded transmission corridors and major grid upgrades.

    In Fayette County, residents told the Columbus newspaper that Georgia Power used eminent domain to place steel transmission poles through established neighborhoods to connect a QTS data center, clearing trees and lowering property values.

    While residents confront local impacts, the statewide scale of development remains hard to track. The Ledger-Enquirer reported that estimates place Georgia’s data center count between 100 and 160, with many details shielded by nondisclosure agreements. Research cited by the paper found that Georgia is now the nation’s fastest-growing data center market.

    Growth accelerated after a 2018 state tax exemption for data center equipment and property tax abatements, later extended to 2031. An effort to suspend the incentives in 2024 passed the legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Brian Kemp.

    Undeterred, House Speaker Jon Burns created a special resource committee to study the effects of data centers on water and energy systems. State officials told the Ledger-Enquirer that transparency improvements are on the way.

    The Department of Community Affairs plans to create a dedicated category for data centers in the state’s Development of Regional Impact review process. The new rule is expected Nov. 20.

  • Sen. Ossoff seeks answers on potential cuts to care at Fort Gordon medical center

    Sen. Ossoff seeks answers on potential cuts to care at Fort Gordon medical center

    Sen. Ossoff seeks answers on potential cuts to care at Fort Gordon medical center

    U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff announced Thursday, Nov. 13,  that he has launched an inquiry into reports of reduced services at a Fort Gordon facility.

    Ossoff sent a letter to Dr. David Smith, the acting director of the Defense Health Agency, requesting information regarding reports over plans to reduce services at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center (DDEAMC) at Fort Gordon.

    “Hospitals in Georgia are already facing cuts and closures of vital services,” Ossoff wrote. “I strongly urge DHA protect Eisenhower Army Medical Center from any proposed cuts to care.”

    The reported plans to reduce services include closing emergency room and operating room services at the facility, according to WJBF.

    The Eisenhower Army Medical Center serves between 30,000 to 40,000 active duty service members, retired military, their families, and Department of Defense civilians. DDEAMC has around 60 inpatient beds and six operating rooms, and employs around 1,500 people, according to the letter.

    Ossoff’s request comes after several months of advocating for Affordable Care Act subsidies. The letter references Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act as the reason Georgia hospitals are struggling.

    Last month, St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital closed the doors on its labor and delivery unit, citing recent cuts to Medicaid as a reason for the closure.

    “This is what happens when you gut the Medicaid program,” Ossoff told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It defunds hospitals and nursing homes, and now, when pregnant women in northeast Georgia go into labor, they may have to drive an hour or an hour and a half to get care.”

  • Baby formula recalled after reports of infant botulism in 10 US states

    Federal and state health officials are investigating 13 cases in 10 U.S. states of infant botulism linked to baby formula that is being recalled.

  • Government Shutdown, Hospital Shutdowns: Rural Georgia Pays the Price for Cuts

    Government Shutdown, Hospital Shutdowns: Rural Georgia Pays the Price for Cuts

    A hospital in rural Georgia closed one of its units Monday, and Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff referred to the news as a real-world consequence of cuts to Medicaid.

    “This is what happens when you gut the Medicaid program,” Ossoff told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It defunds hospitals and nursing homes, and now, when pregnant women in northeast Georgia go into labor, they may have to drive an hour or an hour and a half to get care.”

    St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, Georgia, closed its labor and delivery unit after several months of funding challenges. Recent cuts to Medicaid solidified the hospital administration’s decision to close the unit, according to the AJC.

    Nine rural hospitals have closed in the past decade in Georgia making it harder to residents to access healthcare, according to a CBSNews report.

    Health care is one of the major issues which led to the government shutdown. Democrats are attempting to use what little negotiating power they have to convince the GOP to extend expiring tax credits that make health insurance cheaper and reverse the Trump administration’s previous cuts to Medicaid. Although both chambers of Congress are majority Republican, the Senate needs 60 votes to pass the spending bill. 

    Nearly 5 million Americans are expected to lose their health insurance next year due to the cuts to Medicaid and a total of 14 million more Americans would be uninsured by 2034, according to WABE.

    Georgia could lose more than 33,000 jobs in 2026 if the enhanced premium ACA tax credits expire, which is the third highest loss in the nation, according to a report from George Washington University and The Commonwealth Fund.

    Both sides are blaming each other for the shutdown. On several government websites, including the U.S. Department of State, Department of Agriculture, and Department of the Treasury, notices are posted indicating that the shutdown is “Democrat-led” or the “radical left” chose to shutdown the government.

    On the other side, Democrats are rallying to ensure that Trump and Republicans are to blame for the shutdown.

    “We are the wealthiest country in the world. We should be building new hospitals. We should be building new clinics,” Ossoff said in an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen.

  • Dallas Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland died by suicide, police say

    Dallas Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland died by suicide, police say

    The Department of Public Safety said officers found Kneeland’s vehicle abandoned after a crash, then found his body nearby.

  • Me – Too Was Needed, But Has It Gone Too – Far?: 4 Considerations!

    Me – Too Was Needed, But Has It Gone Too – Far?: 4 Considerations!

    Track appears in new box set…

    A new box set showcasing recordings Captain Beefheart made in the early Seventies is due for release.

    After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

    Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 To 1972 features newly remastered versions of three albums that Beefheart and the Magic Band released during that period – Lick My Decals Off, Baby, The Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot – as well as an extra disc of alternate versions.

    Scroll down to hear a previously unreleased take of the track, “Little Scratch“, which appears on the fourth disc of outtakes.

    Long-time Magic Band guitarist Moris Tepper, first met Beefheart [aka Don Van Vliet] at the Troubadour in Los Angeles during the Clear Spot tour. He stayed in the band until 1982. Speaking to Uncut, Tepper reveals that aside from the alternative versions that appear on Sun Zoom Spark, there is also a trove of unreleased Beefheart material.

    “I can name a dozen songs right now that I wanted to record with him but which never got recorded,” says Tepper. “They exist maybe more as poems than as songs. He had music for a song called ‘Your Love Brought Me To Life’, I think it was published in a book in Germany. We had worked on a song called ‘Child Ecologist‘ which was another symphony. He’d done something before I ever met him called ‘Big Sur Suite’ which was an incredibly beautiful piece of music, this huge, thematic, movie kind of theme and gorgeous words. He probably had more unrecorded, undocumented works than recorded works. He’s an artist.

  • We Need To Elect Public Leaders, Willing To DIRECT Us, Properly!

    We Need To Elect Public Leaders, Willing To DIRECT Us, Properly!

    John has joked with Q that he is yet to find any upsides to being a solo artist.

    Speaking in a Q25 video interview to mark his appearance on the cover of our special 25th anniversary issue, Q304, which is out now, the former Oasis leader.

    The Chief declares in the video interview you can watch above: “It’s more of a pain in the arse [being solo] to be honest. Everything is on you isn’t it? It’s a lot more peaceful but it can be a lot more solitary, I don’t mind that. I enjoyed making the record on my own, that was kind of easy… but the hard bit is starting on Monday when I to rehearse with the band and all that.

    “I wouldn’t say I’m really pumped in the air kind, like I fucking can’t wait. If someone was to call me now and say we should call this off this has been a huge mistake, I’d go Yep, OK, lets fucking go… but you know you can’t. I guess ill grow in to it. I hope I do.”

    Watch the full interview now, which also includes details on The Chief‘s debut solo , his collaboration with Amorphous Androgynous which will be released next summer, the release of ‘lost’ Oasis track Stop The Clocks, his opinions on the Olympics and who he thinks the most influential artist of the last 25 years is (give you a clue, he was in Oasis…)