Michigan doesn’t track how cities are spending their share of a landmark lawsuit settlement with opioid manufacturers. A Bridge investigation finds 4 in 10 haven’t spent money yet on the crisis that has upended thousands of lives.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers a range of health issues in Michigan, including the industry of aging and the issues facing older residents in Michigan, a state that is aging faster than most others. She joined Bridge in 2019 and has led investigations that tracked millions of dollars in opioid settlement money and explored severe worker shortages in health care that threaten lives and the state's economy. She chronicled the shock and grief of Michigan families in COVID’s wake, as well as state policy decisions and the triumphs of medical breakthroughs. Robin previously spent six years covering health at the Detroit Free Press, documenting the battle over, and the eventual passage of, the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She studied communications and political science at Miami University and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lourdes University (Toledo, Ohio). She and her husband raised two wonderful children — but have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets — in southeast Michigan. Reach her at rerb@bridgemi.com.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Free COVID shots program ends for uninsured. In Michigan, what now?
A federal program that provides COVID shots for under- and uninsured Americans and others is ending, just as updated COVID vaccines are being released.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
In Michigan, cases of whooping cough — pertussis — continue to climb
For most people, pertussis is a mild illness, but it can be deadly to infants who are too young for a vaccine.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Mosquito-borne viruses — and a mystery — emerge as Michigan summer ends
This holiday weekend, close the laptop, fire up the grill and — health officials urge — grab the bug spray.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan’s McLaren Health Care back to ‘normal operations’ after cyberattack
Grand Blanc-based McLaren Health Care was hit earlier this month, part of a nationwide upswing in cyberattacks in health care.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Cheaper Medicare drugs bound for Michigan. By how much? It’s complicated
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allowed Medicare to negotiate the prices for 10 common or costly drugs. Those savings — up to 76% on one drug — are on the way for Medicare beneficiaries.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Rite Aid confirms exit from Michigan market with latest store closings
Rite Aid has closed, or made plans to close more than 200 Michigan stores since October. Meanwhile, CVS is more slowly closing stores, and Walgreens will shrink its national footprint, too.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
What a peek into 150 Michigan bank accounts reveals about memory loss
Defying a long-held taboo, Peter Lichtenberg asked older Michiganders to open their bank accounts to him. What he found were sobering links between early memory loss and everyday budget decisions.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Some opioid settlement funds may sit untouched in Michigan. Here’s why
Proposed payouts in Kroger opioid settlement money vary from over $2 million for Wayne County — to $10.39 for Union Charter Township. The latest calculations reveal the complexity of what seems a windfall for the state in tackling the drug crisis.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan’s McLaren Health Care confirms cyberattack, asks for ‘patience’
McLaren Health Care on Wednesday confirmed that the ‘disruption to our information technology system’ it reported Tuesday was ‘the result of a criminal cyber attack.’