HJAR Sep/Oct 2025

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  SEP / OCT 2025 33 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com Center as the group of 124 future physicians received their medical white coats in a ceremony that has become a rite of passage for incoming medical students. NYITCOM faculty members coat many of the incoming students, but those with a physician in their immediate family are invited to have their relative join them on stage for the ceremony. Jonesboro native Ashley Lamkin was among those who took advantage of that special oppor- tunity as she was coated by her father, Dr. Tony Lamkin, a wound care specialist with St. Bernards Healthcare. The ceremony also included the presentation of the third-annual Dr. Michael and Julie Isaac- son Scholarship, which was established in 2023 to help support students who are from specific Arkansas counties and are interested in ultimately practicing in a medically underserved commu- nity in the state. Student doctors Gracie Fulks of Jonesboro and Gage West of Stuttgart were honored as this year’s recipients of the scholarship, which is funded by a gift from the Sidney and Mary Ann Arnold Foundation. n protected by a settlement in bankruptcy court since the family itself hadn’t filed for bankruptcy. Arkansas has the second-highest opioid dis- pensing rate in the nation, according to an Arkan- sas Department of Human Services report pub- lished in 2024. Arkansas’ rate was 72.2 per 100 people in 2022, according to the report. The national average was 46.8 per 100 people. The Arkansas Advocate article this news brief was taken from was shortened for space. To read the full article, go to: https:// arkansasadvocate.com/briefs/arkansas-to- get-millions-from-opioid-settlement/ NYITCOMat A-State Welcomes 10th Class at Annual White Coat Ceremony New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State Univer- sity (NYITCOM at A-State) celebrated a milestone on August 2 as the medical school welcomed its 10th class to the Jonesboro campus with its annual White Coat Ceremony. The NYITCOM at A-State Class of 2029 was honored at an event held at A-State’s Fowler Catlin sees patients at the UAMS Health Child Study Center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and at the Department of Psychiatry’s school based STRIVE program. Arkansas Health Care Association Opens School of Nursing The Arkansas Health Care Association (AHCA), along with dignitaries and students, celebrated the opening of the AHCA School of Nursing in June. More than 75 people attended the cele- bration as they gathered in the Little Rock facil- ity, which will host the Little Rock cohort of LPN students. The initial phase of the program also includes locations in Rogers and Jonesboro. Arkansas to Receive $44.5M fromPurdue Pharma Opioid Settlement Journalist Ainsley Platt reported in the June 26 issue of the Arkansas Advocate that Arkansas will receive $44.5 million of a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family for their role in the United States’ opioid epidemic. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced the settlement share and said the state would begin receiving the money next year. The annual payments will continue until 2040. A third of the award will go to the state. The remaining funds will be evenly split between Arkansas municipalities and counties, and managed by the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership. Purdue Pharma is the producer of OxyContin, a painkiller that public health experts and govern- ment officials say was the catalyst for the broader opioid epidemic that began in the 1990s. The Sackler family is the owner of Purdue, but would be forced to give up their ownership under the settlement agreement. The settlement is the latest in a yearslong saga that started in 2019 when Purdue, facing thou- sands of lawsuits over OxyContin’s role in the epidemic, filed for bankruptcy protections. The agreement resolves these lawsuits, but does not shield the Sacklers from opioid lawsuits in the future. A previous settlement that included such pro- tections was scuttled last year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the family couldn’t be Student doctors Gage West (fourth from left) and Gracie Fulks receive the third-annual Dr. Michael and Julie Isaacson Scholarship at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University Class of 2029 White Coat Ceremony, which was held in Jonesboro. Joining them on stage are (L to R) NYITCOM at A-State dean Shane Speights, DO; Michael Isaacson, MD; Julie Isaacson; Ritter Arnold; New York Institute of Technology President and CEO Jerry Balentine, DO; and NYITCOM dean Nicole Wadsworth, DO.