Reporter
I am a reporter at the Baltimore Sun covering Baltimore County courts and crime. Previously, I was a state government and politics reporter for The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette. I enjoy reporting on public health issues such as substance abuse, mental health services and Medicaid. I am especially interested in how public policies impact vulnerable populations and how politics affect health policy in general.
<p>Prescription drug abuse is growing nationwide, but West Virginia was one of the first places hit by the problem. When I picked this topic, I didn't realize how complex it was. The drugs are widely available. Doctors are struggling to treat pain with effective medications without suppl
<p>Prescription drug abuse is growing nationwide, but West Virginia was one of the first places hit by the problem. When I picked this topic, I didn't realize how complex it was. The drugs are widely available. Doctors are struggling to treat pain with effective medications without supplying drug abusers. And prescription drug crimes have proven difficult to prosecute.</p><p>This is the third in a four-part series examining prescription drug abuse in West Virginia.</p>
<p>West Virginia's two Republican U.S. representatives voted with GOP colleagues Wednesday to overturn federal health care reform.</p>
<p>Prescription drug abuse is growing nationwide, but West Virginia was one of the first places hit by the problem. When I picked this topic, I didn't realize how complex it was. The drugs are widely available. Doctors are struggling to treat pain with effective medications without supplying drug abusers. And prescription drug crimes have proven difficult to prosecute.</p><p>This is the second in a four-part series examining prescription drug abuse in West Virginia.</p><p> </p>
<p>Prescription drug abuse is growing nationwide, but West Virginia was one of the first places hit by the problem. When I picked this topic, I didn't realize how complex it was. The drugs are widely available. Doctors are struggling to treat pain with effective medications without supplying drug abusers. And prescription drug crimes have proven difficult to prosecute.</p><p>This is the first in a four-part series examining prescription drug abuse in West Virginia.</p>
<p>Gov. Joe Manchin's support for federal health-care reform has come under attack as Republicans try to tie the U.S. Senate hopeful to President Obama, but those who have worked with the Democratic governor on state health issues say a closer look at his time in office reveals a fiscally conservative record with mixed results.</p>
<p>State health officials say they will delay a plan to transfer many West Virginians' Medicaid benefits to managed-care companies, after criticism from lawmakers, providers and advocates.</p>
<p>Some West Virginia lawmakers want to ban K2 and other so-called synthetic marijuana products, which are growing in popularity.</p>
<p>A rising number of patients from the criminal justice system is cramping one of West Virginia's two state-run psychiatric hospitals, according to a new report by the state's mental-health watchdog.</p>
<p>Weston facility overcrowded, records show; staff overworked, union says</p>
