Month: December 2024

Opinion | I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quit.  The New York Times
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By Merrill Goozner
Dec. 18, 2024
Goozner is the former editor-in-chief and columnist at Modern Healthcare.
Online vitriol isn’t pretty. But the mass schadenfreude that greeted the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, while cruel and inappropriate, did succeed in drawing attention to growing rage over the nation’s private health insurance system.
Consumers are angry because the premiums for their health insurance are too high. Patients are angry because they pay too much out-of-pocket for health care when they use their insurance. Both patients and their doctors are angry when they are denied services by a distant bureaucrat working for a health insurer.  
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Among all advanced industrial countries, the U.S. goes furthest in using premiums, copays, and deductibles to influence access to care. Proponents argue that making patients have more “skin in the game” incentivizes them to stop purchasing unnecessary care and lower overall health care spending.
It has never worked. Studies have repeatedly shown that patients respond to high out-of-pocket costs by avoiding necessary and unnecessary care in equal measure. Avoiding necessary care is one reason why the U.S. has worse health outcomes than many nations that spend much less on health.
It is time to put an end to this failed experiment. If we want a humane health care system that delivers better outcomes, we must design payment policies that serve patients, not the insurance industry.
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Where to start? Government must set a hard cap on the share of household income that can be spent on premiums, copays, and deductibles in any given year. This simple, easily enacted reform will make using health insurance affordable and put an end to medical debt.
To pay for this reform, payers in both the public and private sectors must change how they reimburse hospitals and doctors. The current system is almost entirely fee-for-service. It needs to change to guaranteed annual budgets for hospitals and physician practices with strict rules governing what services must be delivered.
Meeting patient needs while staying within a budget can only be achieved if providers control the purse strings. Surely a country that spends 50% more than any other on health can meet every citizen’s health care needs if providers have the flexibility to efficiently allocate resources.
Under guaranteed budgets, hospital systems and physician practices will be able to redirect personnel and financial support toward primary care, prevention, and addressing patients’ social needs, which will hold down costs. It also gives providers the power to drive down prices, both internally (by eliminating administrative waste and better use of personnel) and from external suppliers like the drug, device, test and imaging equipment makers. The Veterans Administration, which operates the nation’s largest health care system, operates within a guaranteed annual budget.
Under the current system, most hospitals, physicians, and their suppliers (including drugmakers) receive a payment for every service or product they deliver. Like any piecework system, the more they deliver and the higher the price, the more they make.
Conversely, insurers are incentivized to deny care under fee-for-service medicine. The less they allow, the more they make. The easiest way to pad profits is to hold down utilization through tactics like prior authorization.
The irony is that insurers are already paid a lump sum for each enrollee by employers, Medicare and Medicaid (more than half of Medicare and nearly three-quarters of Medicaid beneficiaries are now in insurer-run plans). This system gives control of the money to the wrong party.
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Giving hospitals and doctors the power to determine how our health care dollars get spent is not single payer. Both government programs and private insurers will contribute to the annual budgets, whose growth can be adjusted by state or federal regulators for inflation, demographic changes, emergency health challenges like pandemics, and new technology.
Unacceptably high out-of-pocket costs are not a new problem. When Medicare was created in 1965 to cover the elderly, experts warned the high deductibles for hospital coverage and the premiums and copays for physician coverage would force beneficiaries to self-ration care. “Those can be fixed,” President Lyndon B. Johnson said, “once it sinks in that Medicare is here to stay.”
Unfortunately, the government never addressed the problem. Instead, it allowed the insurance industry (with a big assist from AARP, the nation’s largest senior citizen lobby) to sell supplemental plans to cover out-of-pocket costs. Eventually, nearly three quarters of seniors in the program purchased such coverage either directly or through their former employer’s retirement plan.
However, as rising health care costs drove supplemental plan premiums skyward, a growing share of seniors opted for insurer-run Medicare Advantage plans, which promised additional benefits and low or no upfront premiums. Today, over half of seniors are in insurer-run plans, which are highly profitable because the government pays insurers more than if those beneficiaries had remained in traditional Medicare.
Cost-conscious seniors opting into Medicare Advantage rarely consider the downsides until they get seriously ill. Those can include large copays for some drugs, tests, and procedures; narrow provider networks; delayed care through prior authorization; and outright denials, which even when medically rational (many aren’t, driven by algorithms rather than an objective review of need) are rarely explained to beneficiaries.
Many employers are deploying similar tactics to limit their exposure to rising health care costs for the 180 million lives they cover. In 2006, only 10% of workers with employer-provided insurance were enrolled in high-deductible plans. Today, that number is more than 40%.
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The individual plans sold on the exchanges fell into a similar trap. Nearly half the 16.1 million people who signed up for Obamacare plans in 2024 chose bronze plans because of their low upfront premiums. However, they only cover about 70% of total health care costs. Another 7 million bought silver plans (80% coverage). Both groups can get socked with big copays and deductibles when they require health care.
The net result is escalating out-of-pocket costs for millions of the insured; the emotional devastation of having to deal with huge bills when seriously ill; and escalating medical debt.
The “skin in the game” experiment has failed to achieve its primary raison d’être. Over the past two decades, it has not prevented health care spending from growing at the same rate or faster than the rest of the economy. For patients’ sake, it needs to stop.
Merrill Goozner is the former editor-in-chief and columnist at Modern Healthcare. He now publishes GoozNews.
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At the moment, you cannot sell Pi coins on Binance or some other cryptocurrency exchange, like you would Bitcoin or Ethereum, for instance. However, that doesn’t mean that you are completely out of luck when it comes to selling your Pi coins. You can try peer-to-peer methods, spend your PI directly at merchants that accept PI, and more.
Pi Network is a popular cryptocurrency project that allows users to mine Pi coins for free with their mobile devices. The nature of the project means that millions of users have mined a considerable number of Pi coins and are now wondering where to sell them.
In this article, we are going to list different ways to sell the Pi coin in 2024 and provide our opinion on which methods are the safest and which methods you should avoid if you don’t want to get scammed. In the meantime, you can open an account on Binance, which will probably be among the first exchanges to list the Pi coin once it finally starts trading.
Create Binance Account
You can sell your Pi coins to interested buyers both online and offline. The peer-to-peer method allows you to come to an agreement about the price and payment method that will be used when selling PI. It is worth noting that the P2P approach is the oldest method of trading cryptocurrency. When Bitcoin was just starting out, and there were no crypto exchanges around, users would sell BTC via PayPal or some other payment service with no involvement of any third party.
However, P2P is just one method for selling PI. In the following sections, we will examine several different ways of selling Pi coins.
Trade Pi Coin on BitMart
The Pi Network blockchain is not yet publicly available on mainnet. However, some exchanges are currently offering Pi Network IOUs.
Since Pi Network’s mainnet is still closed (or rather, “enclosed”) and the exact launch date for the open mainnet is still unknown, there’s currently no PI currently trading on crypto exchanges (except for PI IOUs, but we’ll get to that later). That means that there’s very limited price discovery, and no one really knows how much a single PI coin is worth – it could be 1 cent, $1, or even $100. The point is that no one knows.
For that reason, there are countless users on social media platforms who claim they are willing to buy PI at different rates. Of course, there are also those who are willing to buy PI in person. Let’s see how the two P2P methods compare:
Since Pi Network’s mainnet is not yet live, most P2P crypto exchanges currently don’t give users the ability to buy or sell Pi
Another way to gain exposure to Pi Network’s price is to trade IOUs on supported exchanges. IOUs are essentially informal agreements acknowledging debt. Once Pi starts trading, you’ll probably be able to exchange IOUs for real Pi coins.
It is important to understand that IOUs don’t necessarily reflect the price a cryptocurrency will have at launch, which is why holding them until the cryptocurrency actually launches can be very risky.

It is also worth noting that Pi coin IOUs are not real Pi coins. However, they can serve as a great way to provide insight into Pi coin’s price potential. At the time of writing, Pi coin IOUs on Huobi and Bitmart are changing hands at around $63, up around 79% over the past three months. The rise in price is likely a result of the broader crypto bull market, as well as speculation about a potential release of the Pi Network open mainnet in 2024.
If you want to see how the price of Pi coin IOUs might perform in the future based on technical indicators and past market data, feel free to check our Pi Network price prediction.
If you have a bunch of Pi coins sitting in your wallet and you don’t like other selling methods, you might want to consider spending your PI directly on products and services at supported merchants. There are some businesses that accept PI for different products and services, from selling silver in exchange for PI to accepting PI in exchange for gaming items. There was even a case of a car that was sold for PI, according to the Pi Core team’s X (formerly Twitter) account.
Recently, the Pi Network team organized an event called PiFest, in which users were encouraged to spend their Pi coins at local businesses that accept the cryptocurrency. The team launched an app called the Map of Pi to help users find merchants that accept Pi. 
Pioneers, PiFest starts today and goes on from Oct 29 to Nov 5. Visit and shop at local Pi-Powered businesses using Pi, and share your experiences on Fireside Forum and social media. Use the Map of Pi app to find participating Pi merchants near you. Participate in PiFest… pic.twitter.com/OhKFHaMJwu
While the final option might not be what you want to hear, the reality is that you’d probably be best served to wait for the official launch of the Pi Network open mainnet. It is widely believed that the Pi coin will be listed on cryptocurrency exchange once the mainnet is open. When (if?) that happens, PI will be traded like any other coin or token, meaning that you won’t have to worry about potentially getting scammed or getting a bad deal on your coins.
Recently, the team has increased their efforts in trying to attract new developers to the network, which some people in the community see as a sign that the company is ramping up for the open launch of the mainnet. 
In December of 2023, the Pi Network team said that 3 main conditions will need to be satisfied before Pi transitions to its Open Network phase, but didn’t provide any specific dates. Here are the conditions provided by the team:
As of May 2024, the Pi Network team claimed that 11.1 million Pi users completed the KYC process and 5.58 million users migrated over to the mainnet. This is the most recent information about Pi user figures that we have been able to find. 
The network has reached over 11.1 million KYC’d Pioneers and over 5.58 million Mainnet Migrated Pioneers! Check out the full update in the app. Complete your Mainnet Checklist to join the millions of Pioneers already on the Mainnet! pic.twitter.com/goAJruZpsY
If you are wondering how to sell your Pi coins before the open mainnet launch, please keep in mind that virtually every option available at the moment involves a high degree of risk. Since the only real way to sell PI is peer-to-peer, you’ll have to trust the person who is buying your Pi coins to keep their end of the deal. If they don’t, there’s pretty much nothing you can do, and you’ll end up without your coins.
It is worth pointing out that the delays in the launch of the open mainnet have drawn a lot of attention and criticism from the Pi community over the past couple of months, with some users claiming that the Pi team never intends to release the full version of its network, essentially questioning Pi Network’s legitimacy. According to the most recent announcements, the Pi Network team is aiming to launch the open mainnet sometime in 2024.
Jon is a senior writer at CoinCodex, specializing in blockchain and traditional finance. With a background in Economics, he offers in-depth analysis and insights into cryptocurrency trends and the evolving financial landscape. Jon’s articles provide clarity on complex topics, making him a valuable resource for both crypto enthusiasts and finance professionals.
Peter has been covering the cryptocurrency and blockchain space since 2017, when he first discovered Bitcoin and Ethereum. Peter’s main crypto interests are censorship-resistance, privacy and zero-knowledge tech, although he covers a broad range of crypto-related topics. He is also interested in NFTs as a unique digital medium, especially in the context of generative art.
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Orange County Commission voted Tuesday to directly pay the upcoming payroll for the elections office employee a day after Christmas since elections supervisor Glen Gilzean’s bank account has a $800,000 deficit.
“We’re going to do the right thing by employees. That’s the bottom line here,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.
In court and public meetings, the Orange County government is openly feuding with Gilzean over allegations of mismanagement and misspending. The Orange County Commission voted earlier this month to withhold Gilzean’s December budget payment but agreed Tuesday to pay Gilzean’s $250,000 payroll to payroll company ADP.
Gilzean did not attend Tuesday’s meeting but said on X after the vote that he was glad for the county’s vote.
“Today was a win for the Supervisor of Elections office,” wrote Gilzean, who is suing to fight for his December budget payment. “Unfortunately, our office was put in this position due to lies told by the Mayor & an astonishing misunderstanding of elections by the Comptroller. We will continue to fight in court and shine a light on the laws the county broke to score cheap political points using taxpayer dollars.”
The saga of Gilzean’s final weeks in office started when Orange County officials discovered the elections supervisor spent $2.1 million on student scholarships at Valencia College — an inappropriate use of taxpayer money for a department focused on running elections, Demings charged.
From there, officials learned more about Gilzean’s projects, including $1.9 million on career center training (which the center later returned) and, most recently, nearly $1.1 million to the Central Florida Foundation for administrative and consulting services.
“Plaintiff’s self-imposed dilemma has a simple solution: rescind the $1.1 million contract with Central Florida Foundation and utilize those funds to pay SOE employees on Dec. 26, 2024,” Orange County said in a court filing Tuesday.
Orange Comptroller Phil Diamond accused Gilzean of breaking the law this week by spending 51% of his fiscal year budget in 2.5 months.
“We’re in uncharted waters,” Diamond said Tuesday about the situation and Gilzean’s red deficit in the bank account.
Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson expressed frustrations about some of Diamond’s findings, including Gilzean writing a $45,000 check to the Orlando Regional Realtors Association and paying video production companies instead of making his payroll.
Diamond’s office described Gilzean’s books as having some expenses in the wrong fiscal year or some checks written but not immediately sent, adding to Orange County’s confusion as the Comptroller investigates the situation.
Meanwhile, Gilzean sued Dec. 5 and accused the county of illegally withholding his December budget payment. He blamed the county and Diamond for his inability to pay his employees and vendors.
The two sides are due in court on Wednesday because Gilzean wants to speed up his lawsuit before his term ends.
Gilzean, appointed this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, didn’t run for a full term, so the next elections chief, Karen Castor Dentel, will be sworn in on Jan. 7.
Gilzean has defended his taxpayer-funded scholarships and career training, arguing he is thinking outside the box to solve the community’s problems of low voter turnout and support his office’s temp workers after their contracts recently ended.
Gabrielle Russon is an award-winning journalist based in Orlando. She covered the business of theme parks for the Orlando Sentinel. Her previous newspaper stops include the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Toledo Blade, Kalamazoo Gazette and Elkhart Truth as well as an internship covering the nation’s capital for the Chicago Tribune. For fun, she runs marathons. She gets her training from chasing a toddler around. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @GabrielleRusson .
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Photo Credit: Pixabay/ Sergei Tokmakov
The current crypto market cap has reached $3.62 trillion
The overall crypto market witnessed price correction across most cryptocurrencies over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin on Wednesday, December 18 registered a loss of 2.60 percent to trade at $103,740 (roughly Rs. 88 lakh) on foreign exchanges. Earlier in the day, Bitcoin had surged to a new all-time high of over $108,200 (roughly Rs. 91.8 lakh) before retreating to its current level. The price correction impacted Bitcoin on Indian platforms as well, such as CoinDCX and CoinSwitch, where it was trading at $103,701 (roughly Rs. 88.6 lakh) at the time of writing.
“Bitcoin recently surged to $108,260 (roughly Rs. 91.9 lakh) on Tuesday, representing an increasingly strong institutional interest. The market’s strong fundamentals include persistent demand from spot Bitcoin ETFs and tight supply,” Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder and CEO, Pi42 told Gadgets360. “The most important thing for Bitcoin now is to hold above $102,000 (roughly Rs. 86.6 lakh) support, since a break below could set off a liquidity crunch and holding above could signal more upside.”
Ether saw a price drop of 4.25 percent over the last day on global exchanges. At present, ETH is trading at $3,841 (roughly Rs. 3.26 lakh) on foreign exchanges, showed CoinMarketCap. As per Indian exchanges, ETH value dropped by 4.88 percent bringing its price to $3,839 (roughly Rs. 3.26 lakh).
“Ethereum is in the consolidation phase right now but can mimic the rally of Bitcoin as the investors sentiments are bullish for Ethereum, as short positions are being liquidated all over the board. Ethereum gets a boost from its history of lagging and then catching up to Bitcoin’s momentum,” Shekhar added.
As shown by the crypto price tracker by Gadgets 360 – most altcoins are trading in the reds indicating losses on Wednesday.
Tether, Binance Coin, Dogecoin, Cardano, Tron, Avalanche, and Chainlink saw losses.
Shiba Inu, Polkadot, Bitcoin Cash, Near Protocol, and Cronos also registered price dips on Wednesday.
The overall valuation of the crypto sector tumbled by 2.77 percent in the last 24 hours. The present market cap of the sector has reached $3.62 trillion (roughly Rs. 3,07,42,307 crore), showed CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin’s dominance on the market stands at 56.65 percent.
Market experts anticipate a more favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies in the near future.
“The crypto market has shown encouraging signs as US lawmakers have pledged to advance digital asset legislation, a long-awaited move for the sector. Key members, including the new Senate Banking Chair, have referred to crypto as the ‘next wonder’ of the world, signaling a strong commitment to regulatory clarity. This positive momentum reflects growing institutional interest and a favorable political environment for cryptocurrencies,” Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin told Gadgets 360.
Meanwhile Ripple, Solana, Stellar, Uniswap, Litecoin, and Iota recorded minor profits on Wednesday.
Industry insiders have said that investors should remain cautious but optimistic about navigating their way out of macroeconomic uncertainties in the coming days.
Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 
Cryptocurrency Prices across Indian exchanges
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Elon Musk is making yet another business move and this time he’s reimagining what education in the U.S. could be.
The multi-billionaire has started funding Ad Astra, a Montessori private preschool, outside Bastrop, Texas, recently state-issued documents show.
The preschool will be located on 40 acres of land and a 4,000-square-foot home will be remodeled for the project, according to Texas Health and Human Services documents obtained by Bloomberg.
ELON MUSK PLANNING STEM-FOCUSED SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY IN TEXAS
Recently state-issued documents show that multi-billionaire Elon Musk has begun funding a Montessori private school named Ad Astra outside Bastrop, Texas. (Ad Astra Website)
Ad Astra’s website says it will be "centered around hands-on, project-based learning, where children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and discover solutions to real-world problems. Ad Astra offers a progressive learning environment that emphasizes the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) into its curriculum."
The initial permit shows that the school can educate up to 21 students, but the website lists the population as 18 students from ages 3 to 6 and 30 students between ages 6 and 9.
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on Oct. 26 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ad Astra’s website explains that it is currently open to all children ages 3 to 9 and there are job postings for assistant teachers of all levels.
The cost of tuition will be subsidized initially, according to Ad Astra’s website, but eventually "tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program."
EDUCATION IN AMERICA: PUTTING PARENTS IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing “Cyber Rodeo” grand opening party on April 7, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The website describes the curriculum as being "carefully sequenced and activity-based" aimed at allowing children to develop essential skills and problem-solving techniques "at their own pace."
"This unique approach prepares children for, and ultimately mastery of, reading, writing and mathematics," the website says.
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This is not the first mention of Musk’s interest in starting a school. Last year, his foundation set aside approximately $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin and a possible university.

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Dec 18, 2024
TEARY-EYED — Zachary Thomas Henderson of Follansbee wiped his eyes with a tissue during his sentencing in First Circuit Court Tuesday. — Christopher Dacanay
WELLSBURG — After oral statements that turned emotional, a Follansbee man convicted in connection with the wrongful death of his 14-month-old son was sentenced to six months in jail followed by three years of home confinement.
First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Ronald E. Wilson handed down the sentence Tuesday to Zachary Thomas Henderson, 36, who on Sept. 3 pleaded guilty to child neglect resulting in death and gross child neglect creating a substantial risk of death or serious injury.
According to police reports, Henderson and his son’s mother — Rachel Camiletti, 36, of Follansbee — left fentanyl where the child had access to and could ingest it, resulting in his death on Aug. 3, 2022. The March 6, 2023, indictment against Henderson states that the child neglect creating substantial risk of death or injury charge was filed because Henderson’s other two children could access the drug.
Starting Jan. 2, Henderson will spend the next six months in jail, as a condition of his probation. After those six months, he will serve an alternative sentence of home confinement for three years. Henderson will be on supervised release for one year after completing the alternative sentence.
The charge of child neglect resulting in death typically carries three to 15 years in prison, a fine not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 or both. The charge of gross child neglect creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury typically carries one to five years in prison, a fine not less than $1,000 and not more than $3,000 or both.
On Aug. 27, Wilson sentenced Camiletti — who pleaded guilty to child neglect resulting in death — to two years of supervised probation and ordered her to register with the state’s child abuse and neglect registry for 10 years. Henderson also is required under state law to register with the same for 10 years.
A plea agreement reached by attorney Sean Logue, Henderson’s counsel, and the Brooke County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed an additional count of child neglect creating substantial risk of death or injury that Henderson would have faced otherwise.
While the defense, during Tuesday’s court session, pointed toward Henderson’s supposed good character, mitigating circumstances and progress in treatment programs, the prosecution argued for justice on behalf of the deceased child.
“There is no doubt that (Henderson) is a changed person and that he’s made the effort to change,” Wilson said during the session, “but there has to be some jail sentence for the crime that was committed. And I think that six months is sufficient, here, for a jail sentence because an alternative sentence at home for three years is not easy …”
Afterward, Logue called this “the toughest case I have handled” due to the child’s unfortunate death, grief from which he’s observed affecting Henderson and his family. However, Logue said, the circumstances leading to the child’s death included his client having been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at an early age, which he treated with drug abuse.
“The judge was very compassionate, and I think the sentence was fair given the need for just punishment, the rehabilitation my client has done and the fact that he’s been a model citizen over the last two years. I believe he’s proved that he has a low risk for recidivism.”
Assistant Prosecutor Allison Cowden expressed feelings of “disappointment,” noting the state was seeking a maximum sentence for Henderson — potentially between four and 20 years of prison time served consecutively.
“On behalf of the victim, I would say he deserved more than (the given sentence),” Cowden said. “The sad part of it is, (the deceased child) is not your normal victim of the drug epidemic that is affecting our community. And to know that the drug epidemic is this far-reaching is disturbing, and people need to be held accountable for their actions and bringing drugs into this community.”
During the session, Henderson’s older brother, Shane Henderson, testified that his brother values his children and is “striving to be a better man than what he was, obviously, two years ago.” Shane Henderson said his brother cannot “achieve what he’s meant to” if placed in jail, away from his family and support systems.
Jeosen Kakascik, Zachary Henderson’s Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, testified that Henderson “has been forthcoming and has been working on himself diligently.” Also, Henderson’s employer at Ace Tree Service, Kakascik said his friend has a “great attitude” and is a “hard worker.”
Also testifying was Erin Jordan, case coordinator for the First Circuit Family Treatment Court, who frequently supervised Henderson during his time in the court — which he was readmitted to on June 9, 2023, and completed on Aug. 30.
During Henderson’s time in the court, Jordan said, she “never” observed any safety concerns between him and his other two children, who he was reunified with on Jan. 24 after the court determined appropriate safety measures were in place.
To a question from Cowden, Jordan said the court was aware of “allegations and the petition” regarding Henderson’s ongoing criminal case when it accepted him into its program.
The court received more than 165 negative drug screenings from Henderson throughout his time in the court, Jordan said. However, when questioned by Cowden, she said he also produced six positive drug screenings during that time — something she “wouldn’t say (is) uncommon” among longtime participants.
The first three positive tests were for alcohol, Jordan said, and the other three were for amphetamine, crack cocaine and fentanyl, which was the most recent. That positive test for fentanyl reportedly was received on April 4, while Henderson’s other two children were living with him.
Testimony also came from Stephen Lulla, addictions counselor at the Lee Day Report Center, who began working with Henderson in individual relapse prevention therapy on Oct. 10, 2023. Henderson reportedly met with Lulla weekly until May 21, but elected of his own volition to continue counseling sessions.
Addressing Wilson, Logue said that serving time in jail would “break up (Henderson’s recovery.) He said Henderson should continue his treatment progress by continuing with Narcotics Anonymous and other meetings, taking his medication and retaining family relationships.
Henderson himself, getting emotional, said there’s “no punishment worse than losing a child.”
“I’m clean today because of him. … I’ve come so far. I just want the court to know that I love my son, and that I regret this whole thing happening with him. I’m going to be a better man because of him.”
Cowden agreed with Logue about this being her “saddest” case, and her description of the deceased child’s rigor mortis drew a claim of “That’s unnecessary” from Wilson. The assistant prosecutor said she’s glad Henderson has been clean for the last eight months but added he’s fought this case “tooth and nail.”
“Although I would like to believe that he’s … intending to stay clean and sober, he didn’t do so until Miss Camilletti pleaded and was sentenced. And then when he did relapse just eight months ago, it was on fentanyl — the same fentanyl that killed that child in that home with his two other (children) present. If we are at a point where a defendant is going to be granted leniency because he’s finally seen the light because his child died, where are we?”
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The government should prioritize planning for designated growing areas and support product promotion to advance the development of products derived from medicinal herbs, said Pham Thi Xuan Huong, general director of OPC Pharmaceutical JSC.
Huong made these remarks at the Mekong Connect 2024 forum held in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on Tuesday. OPC is a leading company in development and production of herbal-based pharmaceuticals.
Huong emphasized that Vietnam has significant potential for developing medicinal herbs, but the potential remains underutilized. The Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry predominantly focuses on manufacturing, while the raw material production sector has yet to be established.
Currently, 75% of medicinal herbs are imported, primarily from China and India. 2023 data from the Department of Traditional Medicine Management shows Vietnam consumes approximately 100,000 tons of medicinal herbs annually.
The global market for herbal medicine also offers substantial opportunities. According to the Global Industry Analysts, the global herbal medicine market reached $110 billion in revenue in 2021 and is projected to grow to $179 billion by 2026.
Huong noted that Vietnam could tap into this expanding market by leveraging its strengths in medicinal herbs. Focusing on the Mekong Delta, one of eight medicinal herb regions designated by the government, she highlighted its promising potential based on OPC’s research.
“The Mekong Delta has immense opportunities. At OPC, we’ve successfully developed two sustainable medicinal herb regions in Can Tho and Dong Thap. These regions are thriving and are poised for even greater growth,” she noted.
OPC has been at the forefront of medicinal herb development for 47 years. The company has consistently focused on Vietnamese herbal products, exporting to 15 countries. The global demand for safe and health-promoting products aligns well with the medicinal herb industry’s strengths, Huong added.
“OPC has heavily invested in two key areas, including research and development and the digitization of all data within the research center. This enables us to utilize both domestic and international scientific research. For products that affect health, scientific evidence and technological applications are essential. Looking ahead, OPC plans to incorporate AI into research,” Huong remarked.
Drawing on OPC’s experience in establishing raw material supply chains, Huong explained that the company strategically focuses on products that align with its resources and market advantages.
She emphasized the importance of sustainability in developing growing areas, which not only secures raw material supplies but also facilitates technological investment. She noted that medicinal herbs are not widely recognized globally, making it critical to invest in scientific evidence, starting from the cultivation stage.
Based on OPC’s experience and the challenges encountered in developing growing areas, Huong made three key recommendations. First, she urged the government to formulate a detailed plan for growing areas. Such a plan would enable businesses to define strategies and make informed investment decisions.
Second, she suggested the government assist businesses in promoting and marketing products from these growing areas.
“Regional products must grow within their regions to support local economies. Businesses need mechanisms to collaborate with localities for product promotion and trade. Medicinal herb products marketed through tourism could greatly benefit, as they are often trusted as gifts or souvenirs,” she said.
Third, Huong called on the government to support the establishment of processing facilities within growing area clusters.
“When businesses develop growing areas, they need locations for preliminary processing before transferring raw materials to main factories. The government’s support in allocating and developing these facilities would be invaluable,” she noted.
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Thailand’s National Herbal Policy Committee has approved a plan to elevate the local herbal industry to the international level and develop the health economy and medical services.
Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s National Herbal Policy Committee has approved a plan to elevate the local herbal industry to the international level and develop the health economy and medical services.

As reported by the Thai English-language news site The Nation, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prasert Chantraruangthong, chairman of the committee, said six key ministries of Public Health, Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Interior and Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation will implement the integrated programme. The main goal is to develop the herbal industry throughout the entire value chain, including cultivation and management, research and innovation, processing, value-adding, marketing promotion, and establishing Thai herbal branding in the global market.

The “Herb of the Year” initiative for 2025–2027 focuses on promoting turmeric as a flagship herb. Relevant agencies will collaborate to enhance the value of turmeric products, such as medicines, cosmetics, dietary supplements, and exports, to generate significant economic impact.

In the first year of the plan, priority will be given to registering turmeric-based products, developing marketing channels domestically and internationally, adding value to local herbs, and supporting comprehensive industrial development.

Dr Somruek Chungsaman, Director-General of the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, explained that turmeric was chosen as the highlight herb due to its high global market potential. According to Transparency Market Research, the global turmeric market value is projected to increase from 7.83 billion THB in 2024 to 28.85 billion THB in 2034, with an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9%.

In Thailand, the turmeric market is valued at 262.24 million THB in 2024, accounting for 3.3% of the global market. It is expected to grow to 770.14 million THB by 2034, particularly in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, which are witnessing continuous growth./.
The activities conducted by the Vietnam Trade Office in Thailand in 2024 have enriched the trade and investment relations between the two countries, contributing to helping Thailand maintain its position as Vietnam’s largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to Le Huu Phuc, Vietnam’s Trade Counsellor in Thailand.
Thailand is expected to apply a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% on big international companies from 2025 in an effort to attract more foreign investment.
Thai Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit has announced a plan to accelerate work on the second phase of the country’s railway system upgrade, which will cover six double-track railway projects with an investment of 300 billion THB (8.8 billion USD) next year.
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