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There’s a big difference between getting a scheduled knee replacement surgery or back surgery and having an emergency gallbladder removal or cardiac catheterization. The orthopedic surgeries tend to be non-emergency, elective procedures that are planned in advance. On the other hand, gallbladder removals are often emergency surgeries, as patients are usually in excruciating pain. Emergency cardiac catheterizations are done on patients who are at high risk of imminent heart attack, a condition that often could be prevented by ongoing cardiac care. (Hoban, 9/20)

At least 270 people have died from overdoses so far this year in Jacksonville; 271 people had died from an overdose at the same point last year. Dr. Raymond Pomm is the medical director for Project Save Lives, Jacksonville’s initiative to prevent drug overdose deaths. He told a City Council committee Thursday there aren’t enough treatment beds for all of the patients that opt into the program. (Heddles, 9/19)

It was four days after Hurricane Ida, and Grace Hollins worried her son couldn’t take one more day in the heat. Carl, 28, has severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. His seizures are aggravated by the heat, and Hollins had just one syringe of diazepam left to treat them. Adult diapers, usually delivered at the first of the month, were running low. Ida had broken a window and torn a hole through her roof in New Orleans' St. Roch neighborhood, and mosquitoes were coming in. She didn’t know where to turn. “It was scary. It was horrible. My son was not understanding,” said Hollins, 55, who is also disabled due to a back injury. “He just couldn’t grasp it. I couldn’t grasp it, either.” (Woodruff, 9/20)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called his decisive victory in this week’s recall election a win for vaccines and science. The data backs him up. A CNBC analysis of county-level results — which are preliminary as mail-in ballots continue to be tallied — found a strong link between support for Newsom and counties with high Covid vaccination rates as of Election Day, Sept. 14. (Constantino and Rattner, 9/17)

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) ordered the release of 191 inmates from Rikers Island on Friday, and announced an agreement that could move up to 200 more to state prisons. COVID has deepened a crisis at the prison, which had years of neglect and dysfunction prior to the pandemic. Ten people have died at Rikers since December, the New York Times reported. (Garfinkel, 9/17)

Republican Representative Lee Zeldin said Saturday he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and is in “complete remission” after nine months of treatment. The statement from the congressman seeking the Republican nomination to run for New York governor was the first time he publicly disclosed his diagnosis. Zeldin, 41, said his health is “phenomenal” and he has continued to campaign across the state. “Over the last nine months, I have achieved complete remission, am expected to live a normal life, and my doctor says I currently have no evidence of this disease in my system,” Zeldin said. (Edgerton, 9/18)