Dr. Joseph Ladapo

The Florida Department of Health has hit a roadblock in its attempt to end school entry mandates for certain vaccines after a legal petition was filed.

Department of Health schedules a public hearing on proposed changes for Oct. 8 in Lake Mary.

GOP gubernatorial candidate also supports DeSantis administration’s proposed rule to drop four school vaccine mandates.

A state plan would remove mandates on schoolchildren receiving shots for chickenpox, hepatitis B, Hib and pneumococcal disease. Comments can be made through Sept. 14.

Despite a call to end all vaccine mandates in the state of Florida, nothing has happened on a policy level. Yet, parents are confused, local pediatricians are seeing vaccine hesitancy growing and vaccine exemption rates are the highest they’ve been in a decade.

During a roundtable on youth mental health, Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo introduced guidelines urging broader evaluations by providers before children are prescribed psychotropics.

Measles infections in Florida affect infants, teens, and 60-plus.

Florida aimed to become the first state in the nation to end all vaccine mandates. But lawmakers failed to agree on a path forward.

A leading provider of AIDS care is asking a Florida state administrative court to resume proceedings in a legal challenge to the DeSantis administration’s move to reduce enrollment eligibility in a program that helps people purchase medications.

The DeSantis administration announced Tuesday that it’s developing three new rules meant to curb spending in a federally funded program that provides benefits to people with HIV and AIDS.

The complaint claims that the state illegally changed rules regarding income eligibility thresholds for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program without having gone through the mandatory rule making process.

State officials said the action is being taken to prevent a shortfall of more than $120 million in the statewide prescription medication program for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS.