Medical Legislation News and Research

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CDC website tracks infections

A secure, Web-based reporting network that lets facilities track infections associated with health care is now available to all health care facilities in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced.

28 Jun 2007

British doctors call for easier abortions

British doctors are calling for access to abortions to be made quicker and easier for women; the move would bring Britain in line with many other European countries.

27 Jun 2007

Pain management is a fundamental human right

A growing international consensus urges change in several areas - including increased availability of controlled medications such as opioids - toward the goal of recognizing effective treatment for pain as a fundamental human right, according to a special article in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, the official publication of the International Anesthesia Research Society and published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

27 Jun 2007

Health in early medieval times

Latest research into health in medieval Europe taking in everything from demonic possession to miracles of healing is to be revealed at The University of Nottingham.

26 Jun 2007

FDA cracks down on dietary supplements

It's taken a few years but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. has finally established a set of regulations to ensure good manufacturing practices for dietary supplements.

25 Jun 2007

Marijuana holds a signature of the environment grown in

Scientists at the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility can tell whether marijuana confiscated in a traffic stop in Fairbanks likely came from Mexico or the Matanuska Valley.

23 Jun 2007

Smoking declines in New York City

smoking rate has plummeted since a comprehensive program against smoking was launched in 2002, according to findings issued today in the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

23 Jun 2007

Parents of chronically ill kids are helped by better access to federal and employer leave

Working parents are more able to care for their chronically ill children when given greater access to federal and employer-provided time off from their jobs, according to a RAND Corporation study.

23 Jun 2007

Irish Smokefree law reduces smoking in the home

Around one in five Irish smokers are lighting up less at home since the introduction of the smoking ban in 2004, new research has revealed.

23 Jun 2007

Many couples willing to donate unused embryos to stem cell research

In a survey of over a thousand patients who have created and frozen embryos as part of fertility treatment, 60 percent said they would be likely to donate unused embryos for stem cell research, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University.

23 Jun 2007

Senate Appropriations Committee approves spending bill that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 26-3 to approve the fiscal year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, which includes a provision that would expand the number of human embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federal funding, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 6/21).

22 Jun 2007

House approves bill that would allow contraceptive donations to international groups barred from funding

The House on Thursday voted 241-178 to approve a fiscal year 2008 foreign aid spending bill that would allow the federal government to give contraceptives but not money to international groups barred from receiving U.S. aid because of their abortion policies, the Washington Post reports (Williamson, Washington Post, 6/22).

22 Jun 2007

New trade agreement language to allow developing countries more flexibility in circumventing drug patents, other restrictions

Democratic lawmakers and U.S. trade officials are in the final stages of negotiation over language to be added to international free trade agreements that would allow developing countries more flexibility in circumventing drug patents and other restrictions on pharmaceuticals, sources said recently, CongressDaily reports.

22 Jun 2007

Texas sues three drug makers alleging Medicaid fraud

Texas on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Mylan Laboratories, Sandoz, Teva Pharmaceuticals and subsidiaries of those companies alleging that the state Medicaid program overpaid retailers by at least tens of millions of dollars for medications because the companies did not disclose discounts they were providing to retailers, the Houston Chronicle reports.

22 Jun 2007

Senate appropriations committee approves labor-HHS-education spending bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 26-3 to approve a $152 billion fiscal year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill after the addition of an amendment that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, CongressDaily reports (Cohn, CongressDaily, 6/22).

22 Jun 2007

House Committee passes prescription drug user fee act reauthorization legislation

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday voted 39-0 to approve nine bills that would expand FDA's authority to regulate prescription drug safety and increase user fees paid by drug and medical device companies, Dow Jones reports.

22 Jun 2007

Medical standards in 21 states based on local rule, not national standards

Although most patients don't know it, 21 U.S. states follow some form of an 1880 ruling that says the standard of care physicians must meet by law depends on where the doctor practices, even if, in some cases, it is a small town with only two doctors.

20 Jun 2007