In my senior year of high school, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease -- a chronic illness that I continue to struggle with every day. In college, my illness would sometimes cause me to miss class. Now, as I’m entering the workforce, I can’t help but worry what will happen when I get sick and have to miss work. Will I lose paychecks? Will I lose jobs? I’m not the only one dealing with this. Thousands and thousands of New Hampshire workers share these fears every day. Join me in demanding answers from our presidential candidates.

This petition is aimed to put a stop to the needle exchange proposed at 65 Town Hall Sq in Falmouth, Ma. The heroin epidemic has become out of control in Falmouth and we believe this needle exchange will only make it worse. Would you want to see, or worse, your kids to see someone shooting up while you are bowling, taking care of any business at Town Hall or going for a walk on Main St? I certainly don't! The next logical step is a methodone clinic, then a homeless shelter and then we become Brockton by the Sea. This will make a once great town into a town no tourist will want to travel to or any current resident will want to stay in. This is not designed to go after the addicts. If this was a program to help addicts seek recovery, we wouldn't have an issue. A needle exchange is the town saying "it's okay to shoot up here and as a matter of fact we encourage it." Please do your part and sign this petition to keep Falmouth beautiful. A needle exchange will cause more problems than anyone realizes.

To submit a bill to pass the thomas jake chastain law:make mandatory 30 days treatment on any heroin overdose survivors.nobody addicted to heroin denied treatment.Jake was not my first but i pray hes my last friend that has to die of a heroin overdose after being revived 4 times,I've watched my friends bury their kids.praying to god the next ones not mine.if we can't rid the heroin we need to open heroin addiction clinics throughout the Commonwealth of paulding county and any county touching paulding co

There are approximately 100,000,000 Chronic Pain Patients living in the United States. To treat those hundred million Chronic Pain Patients, there are only 2,500 Pain Specialist. That is 40,000 patients per doctor. As a result, most Chronic Pain Patients end up relying on their Primary Care Physicians to prescribe medications and treatments. With the restrictions on opiates that already exist, many Primary Care Physicians already will not treat Chronic Pain Patients. Added restrictions will only further prevent adequate care and pain relief, and will further stigmatize Chronic pain patients as addicts. Only about 2% of Chronic Pain Patients end up abusing their medications. Chronic pain patients don’t want to have to take these medications any more than a cancer patient wants chemotherapy. But they have no choice. Chronic Pain Patients are the ones who will be the most affected by changes in prescribing guidelines, however they are not the ones abusing, selling, or trafficking these medications. By setting limits on the amount of opiates that can be prescribed, it takes the medications away from the patients that need them most. Chronic Pain Patients are two to three times more likely to commit suicide mostly because of inadequate pain care. Are their lives less valuable than the life of an addict? A solution must be found that treats addiction while still ensuring proper and adequate care for Chronic Pain Patients. We demand that Bernie Sanders change his policy in regards to limiting the amount of opiates prescribed. We also demand that Bernie Sanders sit down with Disabled Americans for Change and representatives from other chronic pain groups to discuss this issue, as well as other concerns held by the disabled community. It is time to acknowledge the disabled and to give them a place not only in your policy, but in your campaign. We demand representation. www.DisabledAmericansForChange.org

This is a social justice issue. Health is essential to a good life. Although health care is not perfect, without it people cannot prevent disease or maintain their health. I just learned that my Medicare B annual deductible increased, but Social Security remains stagnant in 2016 with no COLA. Though this is minor, others deprived of ACA health insurance will suffer greatly!

I'm sick of people dying and being locked away for stupid reasons.

I am writing to demand a response from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Congress regarding the April 2015 letter to the IOM from Erin Brockovich and others that was cc’d to thirty members of Congress. It concerned the ‘dietary reference intake’ (DRI) of fluoride established in 1997. The DRI determination was based on the IOM Food and Nutrition Board’s faulty assumption that fluoride, which is neither a mineral or nutrient, was an element that provided a significant dental benefit and had no known adverse health effects up to 10 mgs. per day. The weight of the evidence since 1997 summarized on page 16 of that letter confirms that even at very low doses: - Fluoride is an enzyme poison and an endocrine disruptor - Fluoride is a potent adjuvant… causing or worsening allergies - Fluoride is a proliferative agent... causing or worsening inflammation - Fluoride accumulates in bones and tissue... causing or worsening arthritis and other ailments - Fluoride impacts thyroid hormones… resulting in both hypo and hyper disorders - Fluoride interferes with glucose metabolism… a concern for diabetics - Fluoride causes dental fluorosis… disproportionately by race and social economic status - Fluoride is neurotoxic to fetuses, infants and young children… resulting in permanent deficits - Fluoride is a burden to kidneys... resulting in increased fluoride retention and possible renal damage in those with kidney disease. The 2015 Cochrane Review of fluoridation literature was published in June. Its findings are consistent with the 2000 York Review and earlier critiques referenced in the April letter. Cochrane oral health panelists found no evidence that fluoridation benefits the poor, no evidence of safety, and only low quality limited evidence of minimal reduction in cavities from poorly designed studies that they characterized as having “high risk of bias.” Cochrane voiced low confidence in this evidence of benefit. The Cochrane panel also confirmed the fact agreed to by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that fluoridation causes dental fluorosis in approximately half the population living in fluoridated communities, with about 12.5% finding the fluorosis to be ‘aesthetically displeasing.’ I am confident that an honest examination of 21st century science by the IOM and of the law by Congress, not colored by the machinations of biased agencies defending their reputations and advocacy groups who emphasize endorsements of policy rather than scientific evidence, will result in Congress and the Food and Nutrition Board of the IOM agreeing with 2006 National Research Council Fluoride in Drinking Water panelist, Dr. Robert Isaacson, who said, “The addition of fluorides to drinking water was, and is, a mistake.” Congress, you have the power to instruct the IOM to respond to the April 27, 2015 letter (see attached link). The health and welfare of your constituents depend on it. https://www.aaemonline.org/pdf/LetterIOM_2015.04.27.pdf

Everyone has an inherent right to medical care. Expanding Medicaid in Nebraska will provide 77,000 Nebraskans who currently have no medical insurance with medical insurance. It will save 67-212 lives per year. It will ensure that rural hospitals don't close because they have too much bad debt from charity cases (some rural hospitals have closed in states that haven't yet expanded Medicaid). Expanding Medicaid will create jobs and that will result in more income taxes and sales taxes paid. This increase in revenue will pay for Nebraska's share of the expansion (10% in 2020 and on). Expanding Medicaid will mean fewer businesses will be fined for not providing their workers with health insurance. Fewer people will declare bankruptcy, which will also be good for businesses. It makes sense on all fronts.

Females make up about 50% of the United States population, yet the disparities among women in regards to access to healthcare is relatively unknown to the public. In the United States, 33% of women identify as a member of a race or ethnicity other than white. If current trends continue, this number of female minorities could grow to as much as 50% by mid-century. Social factors (i.e., work environments, neighborhoods, housing, early memories, etc.) are suspected to have just as much influence over a person’s overall health as their own personal habits do (i.e., smoking, drinking, diet, etc.). One of the biggest social factors facing women today is the gender wage gap which also affects women’s access to good healthcare coverage. It’s no secret women are grossly underpaid compared to their male counterparts, this statistic is especially apparent in regards to women of color. Usually women of color seek medical attention and services through clinics; whereas white woman usually see private health care providers and doctors. According to the article, Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities Among Women in California, women of color “have worse health outcomes than those of white women…” These health outcomes include: death due to heart disease, cancers such as cervical cancer, as well as higher rate of infant death and other associated deaths at birth. California is considered one of the most diverse states in the U.S., and income and socio-economic class have a great impact on the care that families are able to receive. Women of color tend to have the lowest paying jobs, they face underemployment and unemployment, and they usually have the inferior jobs. Factoring in socioeconomic stressors, and inequalities, these health problems could be connected. High blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity can have a direct connection with poverty. Also, lack of financial stability leads to eating unhealthy foods, which can have consequences to one’s health. According to the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted in 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” However, women still tend to have worse health than men. Much of this is a direct result of the lack of available health care services for women, especially minority women. It is known that women utilize health care services more than men do, in part due to the physical health problems that come with being a women (in pregnancies, menstruation cycles, fertility, menopause, etc.). And even with all of this, women are greatly underrepresented in the health care decisions made. The quality, accessibility, and affordability factors within health care all play a part in the inequalities women in general, and of minorities, face on a daily basis throughout their entire lifespan. Women also have a greater risk for a number of serious and deadly conditions such as: diabetes, cancers, obesity and HIV/AIDS. Even though the rate of HIV/AIDS has gone down 21% among black women between 2008 and 2010, 63% of black women are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS (new infections). The rate of new infections for Hispanic is more than quadruple of those women who are not Hispanic. Minority women are also more than twice as likely to have higher infant and pregnancy related mortality rates. Also, black women are more than twice as likely to have a baby die as a white woman. Minority women are also less likely to have important screenings for cancers. This needs to change. Until the majority stands up and fights, this will continue to happen. All women should have access to good health care.

People with heroin addictions have no place to go in Central NY for Treatment. 22,700,000 need treatment, only about 2 million get it. Our children are dying, our jails are filling up. Jails and cemeteries are not enough.

My daughter Angela attends Maryhaven Center of Hope, which does a wonderful job providing disabled adults a place to work along with supportive education and counseling. The Federal Government is trying to take away Medicaid funding for these Sheltered Workshops, and close down all Sheltered Workshops for the disabled in the United States.

It has become apparent to me that these ads are counterproductive. People see these ads and press their doctors to prescribe them, even when they are nor what a medical professional would prescribe.