https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/terri-langford/The latest news by Terri Langford.enThu, 01 May 2025 20:58:19 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/01/texas-vaccine-exemption-form/As the state faces a multimillion dollar measles outbreak in West Texas, the House Public Health Committee passes HB 1586 along party lines.By Terri LangfordThu, 01 May 2025 20:58:19 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/01/texas-vaccine-exemption-form/A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.Sophie Park/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/01/texas-hispanics-covid-19-deaths/In the deadly summer of 2020, Hispanics in Texas were half of all COVID-19 deaths, spurring many to vaccinate. Today, in a startling flip, Hispanics make up less than a quarter of deaths from the disease.By Dan Keemahill, Terri Langford and Yuriko SchumacherThu, 01 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/01/texas-hispanics-covid-19-deaths/Delia Ramos and her children hold photos of husband and father Ricardo in Brownsville on March 7, 2021. Ricardo died from COVID-19 in July 2020.Delia Ramos, center, holds a photo of her and her husband Ricardo with her daughter, right, and son tk. Ricardo died in July 2020. Brownsville on March 7, 2021.Eddie Gaspar for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/30/texas-hhsc-data-breach-snap-medicaid/So far, nine Texas Health and Human Services Commission employees have been fired for improperly accessing Texans’ data.By Terri LangfordWed, 30 Apr 2025 17:26:01 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/30/texas-hhsc-data-breach-snap-medicaid/A Texas Health and Human Services client application on April 24, 2018.A Texas Health and Human Services client application on April 24, 2018.Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/29/texas-measles-robert-kennedy-autism/During a visit to College Station, the U.S. health secretary said Europe has a worse track record with the virus, which gets too much media attention.By Terri LangfordTue, 29 Apr 2025 17:21:33 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/29/texas-measles-robert-kennedy-autism/U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins looks on as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a press conference during a visit to the Texas A&M AgriLife Phenotyping Greenhouse in College Station on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins looks on as Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a press conference during a visit to the Texas A&M AgriLife Phenotyping Greenhouse in College Station on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.Ishika Samant for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/23/texas-legislature-dementia-brain-research-fund-house/Some Republicans have bristled at the hefty cost of the bill, and Democrats could reject the funding for it over the school voucher dispute.By Terri LangfordWed, 23 Apr 2025 17:02:23 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/23/texas-legislature-dementia-brain-research-fund-house/The facilities of El Faro Health and Therapeutics come with an infusion room to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease in Rio Grande City, pictured here on Nov. 13, 2021.The facilities of El Faro Health and Therapeutics clinical research facility count with an infusion room to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease in Rio Grande City on November 13, 2021.Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune.https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/22/texas-measles-outbreak-update/Three more counties – Upshur, Eastland and Hardeman – report their first cases of measles in the ongoing historic outbreak.By Terri Langford, Yuriko Schumacher and Stephen SimpsonTue, 22 Apr 2025 11:36:43 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/22/texas-measles-outbreak-update/This tracker will update twice a week, as the Texas Department of State Health Services releases new data.An editorial art for the West Texas measles outbreak tracker.Yuriko Schumacher/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/21/texas-hospitals-undocumented-patients/A state employee testified Monday that tens of thousands of people in the U.S. unlawfully were treated, but it was unclear how long the data had been collected.By Terri LangfordMon, 21 Apr 2025 22:01:38 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/21/texas-hospitals-undocumented-patients/Last summer, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas hospitals to begin asking all patients to disclose whether they were “lawfully in the United States.”An Austin-Travis County EMS vehicle parked outside of an emergency room in Austin on July 7, 2020.Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/16/texas-measles-misinformation-vaccines/After Daisy Hildebrand died of measles, her death was made public first by Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine skeptic who blamed the hospital for fumbling her care. Daisy’s father told The Texas Tribune he never to spoke to Malone.By Yuriko Schumacher, Pooja Salhotra and Terri LangfordWed, 16 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/16/texas-measles-misinformation-vaccines/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/09/texas-public-health-federal-funding-cuts-pandemic/State and local health agencies are having to cut programs and staff to make up the loss and more cuts could be coming.By Terri LangfordWed, 09 Apr 2025 17:47:04 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/09/texas-public-health-federal-funding-cuts-pandemic/Federal funding and a current measles outbreak in parts of Texas were among the topics discussed during a meeting Wednesday at the Texas Department of State Health Services building in Austin.A funding meeting at the Texas Department of State Health Services building in Austin on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Among the topics discussed were concerns regarding federal funding and a current measles outbreak in parts of Texas.Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/09/west-texas-measles-vaccines-vitamin-a/State health officials added four more counties to what they consider “outbreak areas” and advise those visiting or living in those counties to consult measles vaccination guidance for those areas.By Terri LangfordWed, 09 Apr 2025 17:28:20 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/09/west-texas-measles-vaccines-vitamin-a/Signs inform people of measles prevention and testing at the Gaines County Court House in Seminole on April 6, 2025.Signs inform people of measles prevention and testing at the Gaines County Court House in Seminole on Sunday on April 6, 2025.Justin Rex for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/26/texas-measles-public-health-funding-cut/Federal grants paid for workers to help with measles testing and vaccination in Lubbock and were going to help equip a Dallas lab to test for pathogens, including measles.By Terri LangfordWed, 26 Mar 2025 18:26:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/26/texas-measles-public-health-funding-cut/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/The measles vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective against the disease, which is highly contagious and can be life threatening.By Terri LangfordThu, 20 Mar 2025 19:09:22 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/An unvaccinated 6-year-old girl at Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock became the first person to die of measles in Texas in a decade on Feb. 26.Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has added a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/18/texas-covid-pandemic-readiness/Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold.By Terri Langford, Jayme Lozano Carver, Pooja Salhotra, Eleanor Klibanoff and Stephen Simpson, Graphics by Dan Keemahill and Yuriko SchumacherTue, 18 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/18/texas-covid-pandemic-readiness/Illustration by Diana Branzan for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/03/texas-measles-house-public-health/Texas’ health commissioner fielded questions from state lawmakers about the outbreak and vaccine risks.By Terri LangfordMon, 03 Mar 2025 17:51:37 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/03/texas-measles-house-public-health/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/28/texas-measles-abbott-lawmakers-response/Declining vaccination rates, decreasing trust in government and a political unwillingness to endorse vaccines is shaping Texas’ measles response.By Eleanor Klibanoff, Pooja Salhotra, Terri Langford and Jayme Lozano CarverFri, 28 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/28/texas-measles-abbott-lawmakers-response/Covenant Children's Hospital, pictured on Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, has added a patient screening check before patients go to the children's emergency entrance.Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has added a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-measles-death/More than 120 people across nine counties have been infected during the largest Texas outbreak in 30 years.By Jayme Lozano Carver, Pooja Salhotra and Terri LangfordWed, 26 Feb 2025 09:28:05 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-measles-death/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/Two more counties, Potter and Parmer, have reported a measles case. The outbreak has cost state taxpayers $4.5 million to pay for immunization, testing and a public awareness campaign.By Terri Langford, Stephen Simpson, Eleanor Klibanoff and Pooja SalhotraTue, 18 Feb 2025 19:30:14 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/Covenant Children's Hospital located in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. The hospital has been treating patients who have fallen ill with measles.Covenant Childrens hospital located in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has addd a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/11/texas-foster-care-deaths-treatment-center-greenville/The death of an 11-year-old at a Greenville residential treatment center is among 16 deaths reported in the Texas foster care system in the last 15 months.By Terri LangfordTue, 11 Feb 2025 17:35:44 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/11/texas-foster-care-deaths-treatment-center-greenville/The Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.The Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/07/texas-foster-care-death-residential-treatment-center/The Greenville-based treatment center has closed after the death of an 11-year-old boy the day before Thanksgiving.By Terri LangfordFri, 07 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/07/texas-foster-care-death-residential-treatment-center/Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville, pictured here on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, has closed after the death of an 11-year-old foster care boy who was living there.The Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/texas-senate-finance-health-data-breach/So far, nine HHSC employees have been fired for accessing without a “business” purpose the private information of Texans seeking public assistance that includes Medicaid and food stamps.By Terri LangfordMon, 03 Feb 2025 18:53:27 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/texas-senate-finance-health-data-breach/Health and Human Services Commission Commissioner Cecile Young made her first public comments about the data breach affecting more than 61,000 Texans during the Senate Committee of Finance hearing Monday.The Brown Heatly Health and Human Services building in Austin on Nov. 29, 2017.Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune