Virginia farm supplies D.C. eateries despite animal-care violations

This article was originally published by TBD.com on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010.

By Katherine Reynolds Lewis

Mie N Yu, Potenza, Zola -- they're all among a movement in Washington culinary circles toward locally grown, all-natural ingredients.

Another thing they have in common: dealings with Black Eagle Farm, a producer in rural Virginia that was found to have violated animal-care statutes and that lost its organic and humane certifications. Last December, a Virginia state veterinary inspector found that many of the animals at the Nelson County farm were emaciated and in need of veterinary care; the farm's working dogs ate raw meat rather than appropriate food; and one hen house contained eight chicken carcasses.

"The place was completely filthy," said Karen Davis, president of United Poultry Concerns, a Machipongo, Va.-based animal rights group that reviewed state records and photographs of the farm. "The company just stopped feeding the birds."

The state investigation was sparked by "numerous complaints" about maltreated dogs, livestock, and poultry on the farm, which is about 45 miles southwest of Charlottesville. A dead goat was tied to a fence, according to the records, and six dogs were allegedly being locked in a trailer full of feces for four days without water, and at least one was dying. The allegations and findings are spelled out in state records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by Gina Schaecher, general counsel for the Appalachian Great Pyrenees Rescue, based in Richmond, Va., which tried to rescue dogs on the farm.

Curbing Abuse of Prescription Drugs

This article was originally published in Parade, on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009.

By Katherine Reynolds Lewis

More than 15 million Americans abused prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Ritalin, and Valium last year, and thousands died from overdoses. “Drug poisoning has become the second leading cause of death from unintentional injury, exceeded only by motor-vehicle crashes,” said Dr. Leonard Paulozzi, a medical epidemiologist with the Injury Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But while the deaths are accidental, the behavior that causes them is not: Many people who are addicted to painkillers engage in “doctor-shopping,” convincing multiple physicians to write them prescriptions. A CDC study in West Virginia found that 21% of people who died from prescription-drug overdoses had seen five or more different health-care providers for controlled substances in the prior year. Most states have drug-tracking databases aimed at preventing such abuse, but many are in need of improvement.

Currently, in some states, it can take as long as two weeks before a new prescription shows up in a database, according to Sherry Green, CEO of the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws. Last month, the federal government distributed $2 million for states to upgrade their databases in a program to test whether access to prescription data can reduce drug abuse. “The ultimate goal would be to give doctors real-time, online access to prescribing data,” said Robert Lubran of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is overseeing the program.