Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Politics/National
NationalNewsRace

Michigan’s Medical Chief to Stand Trial on Flint Charges

Posted byBy Associated Press | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s chief medical executive will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter and other charges in a criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis, a judge ruled Friday.

Dr. Eden Wells is among five people facing an involuntary manslaughter charge in connection to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area in 2014 and 2015. Wells is now the second high-ranking state official, along with Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, to be ordered to trial .

Flint Water

Dr. Eden Wells, Michigan’s chief medical executive, stands in court Friday, Dec. 7, 2018, at Genesee District Court in downtown Flint, Mich. Wells will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter and other charges in a criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis, a judge ruled Friday. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

Wells, a member of Gov. Rick Snyder’s Cabinet, leaned of the trial decision from Judge William Crawford II while inside a Flint courtroom. Wells has denied any wrongdoing, and her attorney say she had no legal duty to warn the public and worked diligently to investigate and resolve Flint’s water issues.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette charged Wells last year with obstruction of justice and lying to the police, and he later added the manslaughter charge. Schuette has said key officials, including Wells, knew about a spike in Legionnaires’ but waited too long to tell the public.

Some experts have blamed the outbreak on the use of the Flint River for municipal water. Legionella bacteria can emerge through misting and cooling systems, triggering a severe form of pneumonia, especially in people with weakened immune systems.

At least 90 cases of Legionnaires’ occurred in Genesee County, including 12 deaths. More than half of the people had a common thread: They spent time at McLaren Hospital, which was on the Flint water system.

A top state lawmaker, Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich of Flint, said Friday that Well’s “inaction caused irreparable harm to the people of Flint.”

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top