Florida News Archive

Acknowledging that the regulation is inconsistent with Florida law and is out-of-step with current practice standards, members of the Florida Board of Medicine agreed to revamp a rule for medication-assisted weight loss that has been in effect for more than two decades.

A Northwest Florida judge is weighing how to handle an appellate court-fueled case against a lawyer who drew national headlines by donning a Grim Reaper costume to criticize Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Friday, the United States had nearly 597,000 reported COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic started. Here are numbers for Florida and other states that have had the most deaths:

— California: 63,376 deaths

— New York: 53,377 deaths

Florida courts are set to resume some jury trials and drop mask and social-distancing requirements, while most court proceedings will continue to take place remotely, under an order issued Friday by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a record $100 billion state budget for the upcoming fiscal year this week, but not before slashing about $1.5 billion from the spending plan using his line-item veto power.

State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried entered the 2022 gubernatorial race this week, marking the second major Democratic challenger to DeSantis as he seeks re-election.

DeSantis riled the LGBTQ community on Tuesday when he signed into law a wide-ranging education bill that includes a ban on transgender females participating in girls’ and women’s high-school and college sports.

The measure (SB 1028), one of the most-controversial bills of the 2021 legislative session, will make female athletes’ eligibility for sports teams contingent on their “biological sex” on birth certificates issued “at or near the time of the student’s birth.”

Speaking at a private school in Jacksonville on the first day of Pride Month, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a wide-ranging education bill that includes a ban on transgender females participating on girls’ and women’s high-school and college sports teams.

The measure (SB 1028), one of the most-controversial bills of the 2021 legislative session, will make female athletes’ eligibility for sports teams contingent on their “biological sex” on birth certificates issued “at or near the time of the student’s birth.”

After a lower-court judge rejected the state’s arguments, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody wants a federal appeals court to quickly take up a challenge to immigration-enforcement moves by President Joe Biden’s administration.

Florida is not keeping track of the number of nursing home staff and residents who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The state requires nursing facilities to report to the state Emergency Status System the number of residents and staff who have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The facilities also must report the number of residents and staff who have not been vaccinated.