Dara Kam - News Service of Florida

The Agency for Health Care Administration, which largely oversees the Medicaid program, is using the money for legal and expert-witness fees in its push to ban Medicaid coverage for transgender treatments.

AHCA asked for “mental examinations” on a pair of 12-year-olds who are plaintiffs in a challenge to a state rule prohibiting Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care.

The anticipated move could double the size of the state's medical cannabis industry. The health department also made it more expensive for marijuana operators to renew their licenses every two years.

The proceedings against Dr. Joseph Dorn, who was one of the first Florida doctors eligible to order medical marijuana for patients, have been closely watched in the state’s medical cannabis community.

State health officials deemed the application submitted by Moton Hopkins and Hatchett Creek Farms, of which he owned 51 percent, to be the cream of the crop, but after he died decided to award the license to someone else.

Christopher Kimball steps into the post as the state’s medical marijuana industry could be poised to double in size and as challenges pile up over the decision to award a sought-after license to a Black farmer.

The rules prohibit doctors from prescribing puberty-blocking, hormone and hormone “antagonist” treatments for patients under 18. The rules would not apply to children already receiving treatments.

Louis Del Favero Orchids' latest lawsuit follows a September ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal that sided with the Department of Health and upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a case filed by the company.

The state Department of Health issued an “intent to approve” for Terry Donnell Gwinn, who vied with 11 others for the opportunity to join the growing medical marijuana industry.

The judge said his ruling did not address what he called the crux of the case, which will be handled during a trial originally scheduled for August 2023 but likely will take place much earlier.