Category: Kathy Wang

By Hyeongsu Park and Kathy Wang

• As part of its effort to control prescription drug abuse, an advisory panel of experts to the Food and Drug Administration voted on Friday to toughen the restrictions on painkillers containing hydrocodone like Vicodin.
• According to the new report of the Environmental Protection Agency, lead levels in young children in the United States have declined dramatically in recent decades, but the asthma rate among children rose.
• Three days after the 40th anniversary of the decision in Roe v. Wade, tens of thousands of abortion opponents from around the country came to the National Mall on Friday for the annual March for Life rally.
• Johnson & Johnson executives knew years before they recalled a flawed artificial hip in 2010 that it had a critical design flaw, but the company concealed that information, according to internal documents disclosed on Friday during a trial related to the device’s failure.
• The New York Chapter of the NAACP sided with the American soft-drink industry in a legal challenge against against Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s restrictions on sugary drink sizes by filing a joint amicus brief on Wednesday. The amicus brief filed by the NAACP can be found here.
• Millions of low-income people could be required to pay more for health care under a proposed federal policy that would give states more freedom to impose co-payments and other charges on Medicaid patients.
• Germany announced on Thursday that it would reinstate the annual pledge of 200 million euros to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

By Hyeongsu Park and Kathy Wang

• After an estimated 500,000 patients in the United States have received all-metal hip replacements that are failing early in many cases, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing rules that will require manufacturers to produce clinical data to support their devices’ safety and effectiveness.
• A study published in Science identified people from online searches of DNA sequences, age, and a state. The result raises concerns about the difficulty of protecting the privacy of volunteers involved in medical research.
• The Obama administration says it will give states more time to comply with the new health care law after finding that many states lag in setting up insurance exchanges.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $1.5 billion in new grants Thursday for states to continue building their insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. California, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Vermont received funding.
• Pharmacies around New York City struggled to meet the demand for flu vaccinations on Sunday, a day after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared a public health state of emergency in response to a drastic increase in the number of flu cases this year.
• A new type of flu vaccine that requires less manufacturing steps and shorter production time won regulatory approval on Wednesday, and its manufacturer said that limited supplies are expected to be available this winter.
• Quebec is slowly moving towards legal euthanasia. A committee of legal experts has delivered a 400-page report to the provincial government which argues that it should allow “medical assistance to die” when a patient is close to death and is suffering from unbearable physical or psychological pain.

By Hyeongsu Park and Kathy Wang

• The Food and Drug Administration last Friday proposed two sweeping rules aimed at preventing the contamination of produce and processed foods. Changes include requirements for better record keeping, measures to prevent the spread of contaminants in the first place, and contingency plans for handling outbreaks.
• An Institute of Medicine (IOM) review of California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state’s prominent center for stem cell research, called for sweeping changes to reduce potential conflicts of interest and an external scientific advisory board.
• Eli Lilly and Co. failed to test a drug diethylstilbestrol (DEs)’s effect on fetuses before promoting it as a drug that prevents miscarriages, a lawyer charged in opening statements in a trial over whether four sisters’ breast cancer was caused by medication their mother took during pregnancy in the 1950s. On Thursday, Eli Lilly and Co. settled the case.
• Boston declared a public health emergency Wednesday morning as flu season struck in earnest and the state reported 18 deaths from flu. Health officials have confirmed 700 cases of flu in the city, 10 times the total number for the previous flu season.
• The Supreme Court is considering whether police must get a warrant to obtain blood samples in drunk-driving investigations. Justices heard arguments Wednesday in a case involving a disputed blood test from Missouri. Prosecutors in the state, supported by the federal government, urged the Court to allow police to conduct a blood test on an unwilling drunk-driving suspect without a warrant. A decision is expected by summer. The case is Missouri v. McNeely, No. 11-1425.
• On Thursday, after laboratory studies and driving tests confirming the risks of drowsiness, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that women should lower doses of sleep aids containing the active ingredient zolpidem. The recommendation was focused on women because they take longer to metabolize the drug than men.
• Contrary to the goal of the Obama administration’s health care law, health insurance companies obtained double-digit increases in premiums for some customers such as small businesses and people without employer-provided insurance.

By Hyeongsu Park and Kathy Wang

• In a Time article, Maia Szalavitz expresses concern that two recent First Amendment cases could threaten the ability of FDA and the states to regulate drugs and medical therapies. In one case, the Second Circuit overturned the conviction of a drug company representative for illegal sales practices related to off-label promotion, citing free speech concerns. In the other, the Ninth Circuit issued a preliminary injunction against a new California law that bans gay conversion therapy for teens.
• Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts on Friday proposed new laws to strengthen state control of compounding pharmacies, in the wake of the meningitis outbreak caused by a contaminated drug made in Massachusetts.
• In a NY Times column, Paul Campos, a professor of law at the University of Colorado, questioned the popular understanding of the relationship between weight and mortality risk by introducing the meta-analysis published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
• Last Friday, Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan signed a new law that will increase state oversight of abortion clinics and establish a screening protocol to make sure women are not being forced to get an abortion.
• In an interpretation of the new health care law, the Obama administration said Monday that employers must offer health insurance to employees and their children, but will not be subject to penalties if family coverage is unaffordable to workers.
• Many hospitals are not happy about the deal reached between Congress and the White House on New Year’s Day because they will have to bear nearly half of the $30 billion cost to avert a 26.5% payment cut for Medicare physicians. However, the agreement is good for small, rural hospitals as it extended for one year a program that pays hospitals that have fewer than 100 beds, are located in rural areas, and treat a high proportion of Medicare patients up to seven million dollars each year.
• Kansas is pressing a man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple to make him pay child support despite his prior waiver of paternal rights/responsibilities. The issue centers on a state law that requires sperm to be donated through a licensed physician in order for the father to be free of child support obligations, whereas this man simply gave a container of semen to the couple without visiting a doctor.

By Hyeongsu Park and Kathy Wang

• On December 21, a federal judge ordered Alabama to stop isolating prisoners with HIV, ruling in favor of a group of inmates in a class-action lawsuit.
• The Food and Drug Administration moved a big step closer to approving the first genetically engineered animal — a fast-growing salmon — by concluding that the salmon would have “no significant impact” on the environment.
• Richard S. Foster, who as chief actuary of the Medicare program for the last 18 years nettled presidents of both parties with his projections of rapid growth in federal health care spending, will retire next month.
• The Food and Drug Administration conferred with public health officials from 50 states about how to strengthen regulations on drug compounding companies in the wake of a national meningitis outbreak.
• As part of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, Medicare disclosed bonuses and penalties for nearly 3,000 hospitals as it ties almost $1 billion in payments to the quality of care provided to patients.
• The French government has announced that it will introduce legislation allowing assisted suicide and some forms of euthanasia.
• A Time magazine article questions the Chinese treatment of opiate addiction by destroying a region of the brain which feels pleasure. Although China’s Ministry of Health banned this treatment, neurosurgeons are still using it to treat drug addiction. The article raises a number of ethical concerns regarding informed consent and questions the effectiveness of the treatment.

By Hyeongsu Park and Kathy Wang

• Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett joined other Republicans in vowing not to set up a state-wide health care exchange, citing a lack of resources and preparation in order to do so. In making this decision, the Corbett administration will be allowing the Presidential administration to take charge of its exchange. This decision comes amidst large debate that basically broke down along partisan lines, with Democrats strongly pushing for a state-specific exchange.

• Even as some states have been resisting setting up these health care exchanges, other states are moving ahead and have already garnered conditional approval for their health insurance marketplaces. These nine states, all of which are headed by Democratic governors, have expressed strong interest in carrying out the health care overhaul as swiftly as possible. Other states have been attempting to bargain for a partial expansion of Medicaid, although they have largely been met by rejection from the administration.

• The European Institute of Bioethics released a study last week on the state of Belgium’s legalized euthanasia law, which was worded with the intent to protect the vulnerable. However, the report found several failings in the law and corresponding processes, finding on-going abuses in several areas.

• In Australia, the most recent bioethics debate has been around overseas commercial surrogacy, as authorities attempt to reconcile legalized commercial surrogacy and the potential exploitation of women and the protection of surrogates, commissioning parents, and children.

• Last week, AP reported that there are “fewer health care options for illegal immigrants,” highlighting a controversial point in the newly passed health care bill. Since most states do not question immigration status, it has been difficult to establish the cost of treatment of illegal immigrants.

• In the ever-controversial debate about abortion laws, Wisconsin and Michigan have recently joined the fray. In Wisconsin, its chapter of Planned Parenthood intends to sue over abortion medication. Meanwhile, in Michigan, two bills limiting abortion moved closer to becoming law.

• Meanwhile, overseas, the Irish government made a statement on Tuesday suggesting it would allow abortion under limited circumstances. This action is seen largely as a response to comply with demands of the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, in the Philippines, a bill intended to expand birth control to give access to the poor and those who live in rural areas was finally passed through legislation, pushing through much religious and sociopolitical challenge. As a country that is 80% Catholic, this measure had been debated for over a decade with strong opposition from the Church.

• Last Friday, the Supreme Court decided that it would rule on a case regarding generic medicines, which has the potential to answer longstanding questions as to whether pharmaceutical companies buying out generics is a violation of antitrust law. These “pay-for-delay” deals are largely intended to allow pharmaceutical companies to continue to charge higher prices for their brand-name drugs.

• A NY Times article highlights alternative methods of addressing the problem of a shortage of doctors, primary care physicians in particular, by relying on other medical professionals and expanding their capacities. Initiatives to allow non-doctors to take a larger role in medical care seem to be promising ways of filling this supply gap.

• In the aftermath of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, federal inaction has allowed marijuana proponents in California to renew their challenge of federal government closures of one of the state’s largest marijuana dispensaries.

By Hyeongsu Park and Kathy Wang

• The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), a federal body that advises Congress on Medicare, on Thursday issued its annual report to Congress that recommended increasing hospitals’ inpatient and outpatient Medicare rates by 1% in 2013. This recommendation will be voted on by the full board in January.
• The Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday released final rules for a new tax on medical devices such as surgical sutures and knee replacement implants that starts next year as part of President Obama’s healthcare law. Devicemakers should pay a 2.3 percent tax on their gross sales.
• Senior White House and Justice Department officials are debating legal action against Colorado and Washington that could undermine voter-approved initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana use.
• On December 4th, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma ruled that the state laws that require women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound image placed in front of them while they hear a description of the fetus and that ban off-label use of certain abortion-inducing drugs are unconstitutional.
• Last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it would decide whether human genes may be patented. The case the court is going to decide concerns patents on genes that correlate with increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
• Health officials warned last Friday of an alarming increase in HIV cases, particularly among intravenous drug users, in Athens, Greece, which suffered from a financial crisis that has led to deep budget cuts in healthcare and drug treatment programs.
• A Democratic lawmaker last Friday urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate advertising claims made by producers of highly caffeinated energy drinks.