Public/Global Health

Rep. Edward Markey blasted the Obama administration's rejection of a petition to ban the chemical bisphenol A.

Read more...

The Food and Drug Administration released two draft guidance documents on Friday that aim to scare smokers off tobacco and prevent teenagers from getting hooked in the first place.

The first document helps tobacco companies comply with regulations requiring them to report on the quantities of potentially harmful chemicals in tobacco products. Simultaneously, the FDA established a list of 93 harmful and potentially harmful constituent ingredients that tobacco companies will be required to report for every regulated tobacco product sold in the United States.

The second guidance document provides details for companies that want to advertise or market a tobacco product as less harmful or associated with reducing the risk of tobacco-related disease.

"Today's actions represent critical steps forward on providing Americans with the facts about the dangers of tobacco use and to stop children from smoking," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement announcing the guidance. "We will continue to do everything we can to help smokers quit and prevent kids from starting this deadly addiction."

The federal government issued the guidance under the authority of the bipartisan 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which gave the FDA the power to regulate the tobacco industry.

The United States should do a better job ensuring the 2.2 million Americans with epilepsy can access treatment and receive timely referrals to specialized care, the Institute of Medicine said in a new report Friday. Read more...

One in 88 children in the United States has been identified as having an autism spectrum disorder, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates in a new report released Thursday.

The report comes just as House Republicans prepare to approve a budget that would cut federal spending on Medicaid — the single largest funding source of funding for autism support — by more than $800 billion below current projections over the next 10 years.

The CDC warns that autism is an "important public health concern" in the United States, with rates increasing by 23 percent since the last report in 2009. Its conclusions are based on 2008 data gathered at 14 sites across the country, which found wide variations by state — 1 in 210 children was diagnosed in Alabama compared to 1 in 47 children in Utah — and a particularly large increase among Hispanic and black children.

Read more...

The U.S. medical research sector could see tens of thousands of jobs evaporate if Congress doesn't act to avert automatic budget cuts slated to take effect Jan. 1, the advocacy group United for Medical Research (UMR) said in a report released Wednesday.

Last year's debt-ceiling deal called for an automatic 7.8 percent across-the-board cut to non-defense spending if lawmakers can't find $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and revenue increases. Such a hit on the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would "jeopardize high-quality jobs in the life-sciences sector and result in a massive step backwards for biomedical research in the United States," UMR President Carrie Wolinetz said in a statement introducing the report.

"Projections suggest that total employment triggered by NIH extramural spending would fall by more than 33,000, to 398,390 jobs," the report says. "Additionally, the new economic activity generated by NIH investment would drop from $62.1 billion to $57.5 billion, a decrease of more than $4.5 billion."

The report was released just as Senate appropriators prepared to grill NIH Director Francis Collins about the administration's $30.7 billion budget request for the NIH in fiscal 2013.

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the Obama administration's right to require graphic warnings on cigarette packs and advertising under a 2009 tobacco law.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed a Kentucky district court's 2010 ruling that upheld the regulations against a challenge from cigarette makers. Another federal court in Washington, D.C., ruled last month that requiring graphic images and stark warning labels would violate the First Amendment.

The court ruled that the images "serve as disclaimers to the public regarding the incontestable health consequences of using tobacco," which the government has a right to impose.

The appeals court went further than the Kentucky district court by prohibiting tobacco companies from making health claims implying that their regulation by the Food and Drug Administration makes the products safer. In a blow to public health groups such as the American Cancer Society, however, the appellate court struck down the requirement that tobacco advertisements appear exclusively in black and white.

The D.C. Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the graphic warning label case on April 10. The challenge could end up before the Supreme Court.

Funding from the National Institutes of Health supported more than 432,000 jobs and generated more than $62.1 billion in economic activity last year, according to a new state-by-state report from a coalition of groups that seeks increased funding for NIH.

President Obama last month proposed flat-funding NIH at last year's level, $31.7 billion. The new report from United for Medical Research points out that NIH is the largest funder of life-sciences research in the country, leading to "better medicines, procedures, treatments, equipment and delivery systems to prevent and cure disease" while "helping maintain American competitiveness."

"The findings in this report underscore, once again, that funding for basic biomedical research is vital to our national economy," coalition President Carrie Wolinetz said in a statement. 

"Not only does NIH funding contribute directly to life-saving treatments and medical breakthroughs, it also supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country. We urge Congress to continue to provide the NIH with the necessary resources to continue to fuel our economy and unlock new treatments and cures for patients in need."

The Obama administration announced Thursday it's launching a 12-week ad campaign depicting "the harsh reality of illness and damage suffered as a result of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ads will feature "tips from former smokers" sharing their experience living with tobacco-related illnesses and disabilities. The $54 million campaign comes as efforts to reduce youth smoking have started to tail off as cash-strapped states cut their prevention programs.

The ads start Monday and will run for at least 12 weeks online, on television, radio and billboards and in theaters, magazines and newspapers nationwide.

Read more...

More than three-quarters of likely voters think the United States is losing its edge in science, technology and innovation, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The 2012 Research!America poll aims to bolster the case for increased federal spending on medical and other forms of research in a political year dominated by tight budgets. Some 77 percent of respondents said they agree the United States is losing its edge, while a slight majority — 51 percent — thought a bigger slice of each healthcare dollar should be spent on research (the current ratio is 5.5 cents per dollar).

Research!America touts itself as "the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance committed to making research to improve health a higher national priority." The group released the poll during its annual meeting, which featured the topic "World Class to Second Class?".

Read more...

The first-ever report on the quality of care in 306 U.S. communities found a wide variance in the cost and quality of healthcare between and within states.

If all local areas could do as well as the top performers, the Commonwealth Fund report argues, 30 million more Americans would have health insurance, 1.3 million more seniors would receive appropriate medications and Medicare would save billions of dollars on preventable hospitalizations and readmissions. 

The report found that 66 million Americans live in the lowest-performing areas of the country. In the worst-performing areas of Southern states such as Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, the annual preventable death rate before age 75 tops 150 per 100,000, versus under 60 per 100,000 in parts of Washington and Colorado.

Read more...