Public/Global Health

Austerity is hurting our health, say researchers

Our feel-good war on breast cancer

Obama administration mulls rule to give home health aides better wages

The bill would tax all tobacco products at the same rate and hike taxes by 93 percent.

A prominent anti-cancer group backed President Obama's proposal to nearly double the federal cigarette tax, arguing the move would save billions in long-term healthcare costs by discouraging smoking.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) estimated Friday that embracing a $1.95-per-pack tax on cigarettes would save the United States more than $63 billion in the long term and prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths.

"[Obama's] proposal comes at a time when there is much conversation about how to reduce healthcare costs," said CEO John R. Seffrin in a statement. 

A coalition of more than 3,000 advocacy groups criticized Congress for fixing air traffic furloughs but ignoring the sequester's other consequences, such as medical research cuts.

NDD United, which fights reductions in discretionary spending, urged lawmakers in a letter Friday to turn off sequestration altogether instead of "picking favorites."

"Earmarking certain priorities for exemption in a piecemeal fashion is not a long-term solution," the groups wrote.

A powerful House chairman vowed Thursday to put legislation on President Obama’s desk that would give regulators more power to track prescription drugs.

“I commit today that I will do all that I can to make it happen,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said during a hearing.

Lawmakers on Thursday examined a draft bill from Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah) that attempts to address loopholes in the drug supply system and give regulators tools to close them. However, while testing the waters for an electronic tracking system, the draft bill falls short of implementing one.

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) got emotional Thursday when talking about a Senate resolution designating National Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Day. She said she has a personal friend with the disease.

The Senate then passed by unanimous consent S. Res. 116 introduced by Fischer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

The Food and Drug Administration has been given the green light to collect information from cigarette and tobacco companies about the chemicals they use.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up tobacco companies' lawsuit against new rules requiring them to display large, graphic warnings on cigarette packages.

The court declined to hear a case challenging the graphic warnings — along with other sections of a landmark 2009 tobacco law. 

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case leaves in place a lower court's decision upholding most of the tobacco law, including its requirement for graphic warning images on cigarette packs.

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The American Lung Association and other health groups are asking federal regulators to ban menthol in cigarettes.

The groups says the minty taste is just as effective at getting smokers hooked as other flavorings that were banned under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009.