Lauren Peace, Author at Mountain State Spotlight

$47 million. That’s the approximate lifetime cost of treating just the people in Kanawha County diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis C in 2019. The estimate from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, looked at the financial impact of the 14 HIV cases linked to injection drug use and more than 600 hepatitis C […]

Author Archives: Lauren Peace

What’s the real financial cost of a bill eliminating syringe exchanges in West Virginia?

Morgantown shows how syringe exchanges save lives. But a bill before the West Virginia Legislature would outlaw them

The CDC says Kanawha County’s HIV outbreak is the most concerning in the United States

West Virginians are begging Gov. Jim Justice for economic aid. He’s sitting on $665 million that could help.

There’s a lot of misinformation about needle exchanges. Here’s what West Virginians need to know.

In West Virginia’s poorest communities, the state’s vaccine rollout has left vulnerable residents behind

Charleston Police say grassroots needle exchange did not violate law

‘There’s no question about it.’ Charleston Mayor acknowledges need for clean needles amid HIV rise

Behind West Virginia’s vaccine success story, chaos for local health departments

Here are the voices the giant drug distributors don’t want you to hear

Don't miss a Mountain State Spotlight story