Featured story
500 dead and counting from fentanyl as Wichita struggles to curb overdoses
Under Wichita’s towering landmark, the Keeper of the Plains, a group of grieving Wichitans gathered at dusk, lighting candles for loved ones lost to fentanyl. Among the dozens of mourners at the recent memorial were Mark and Val Sandoval, who lost their son just weeks before his high school graduation after he took a single…
Get our free newsletter every week! We share our in-depth reporting and the best local stories to help you understand what’s going on in Wichita.
A surge in fake pain pills is fueling a deadly epidemic among Wichita’s teens
What does youth fentanyl overdose look like? In Sedgwick County it often looks like parents finding their teenager dead in bed — or a toddler dead on the floor, fentanyl pills scattered next to him. That’s not supposed to happen. Parents expect kids at home to be safe, not at risk of the No. 1…
Deaths of adult children fall hard on aging parents, but help with grief exists
Most children grow into adulthood aware they will likely experience the death of a parent. But parents are rarely prepared for the death of an adult child — yet it becomes increasingly common as people age. According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 9 percent of Americans experience…
FDA has approved over-the-counter Narcan. What does that mean for Wichita?
Wichita harm-reduction activists are hopeful the Food and Drug Administration’s recent decision to sell Narcan, a brand of nasal spray naloxone, without a prescription over-the-counter will make the drug more accessible to people who need it – but when and how it might be available is not yet clear. The activists routinely distribute thousands of…
‘Storm of Addiction’ Part 2: Sober and ready to fight
This is the second part of a two-part series. Read the first part here: “How a Kansas woman emerged from the storm of addiction to fight fentanyl.” This story contains references to drug use, addiction and overdose. When Ashley Alexander found her fiance, Dustin Gotham, lying on the bathroom floor with a needle in his…
Cindy Coughenour taught thousands of women to protect themselves after one friend couldn’t
This story briefly references sexual assault and violence against women. If a guy looking for an easy target saw a petite, older woman like Cindy Coughenour walking down a deserted street in Wichita, he might think he’s found his next victim. He would be wrong. She would already be aware of him walking toward her…
Uninsured? A free colon cancer screening is available
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Kansas, behind lung cancer. Overall, the lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is about one in 23 for men and one in 26 for women. However, each person’s risk might be higher or lower, depending on their risk factors. The American Cancer Society recommends…
Medicaid expansion in Kansas: What to know, how we got here and what’s next
Update as of March 14, 2023: In February, Democratic lawmakers introduced two bills, SB 225 and HB 2415, that propose expanding Medicaid eligibility in Kansas. Both bills have stalled since they were introduced, with no movement so far from legislative leadership. On March 31, a pandemic measure that prevented states from removing people from Medicaid…
What’s driving the high maternal mortality rate for women of color in Kansas?
The pair would like to see better health insurance coverage of doulas and action from the state to study the problem more closely, examining whether women of color are dying due to systemic racism that causes health care systems to treat them differently.
KanCare 101: How to apply for Medicaid benefits in Kansas
In any given month, about 450,000 Kansans rely on Medicaid to pay for health care. The program is paid for by the federal government with states providing a match and administering the program. As with any assistance program, it can be difficult to determine if you qualify. Who qualifies depends on many factors, only one…
Half a million Kansans need to review Medicare coverage before Dec. 7
More than 540,000 Kansas residents receive health coverage through Medicare, government-funded health insurance available to nearly all citizens once they reach the age of 65. Nothing about choosing a Medicare plan is simple, and for that reason, free help is available from the state.
PrEP is a drug 99% effective at preventing HIV. Here’s how to get it in Wichita
“We can stop the spread of (HIV) if we do two things: get people who are engaging in high-risk behavior on PrEP and, for the people already infected, get them in therapy and keep them on therapy,” Sweet said.
Las muertes por sobredosis de drogas causadas por el fentanilo se están disparando en Wichita. Esto es lo que usted necesita saber.
Esta historia fue traducida por Claudia Yaujar-Amaro. Esta historia también está disponible en ingles. Lea aquí En los últimos cuatro años, el número de personas que murieron por sobredosis de drogas anualmente en el condado de Sedgwick se duplicó, un aumento dramático atribuido casi en su totalidad a las muertes por fentanilo. Es un problema reciente…
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.