Healthcare

Lawmakers on the House oversight committee are looking into the ability of federal drug regulators to oversee compounding pharmacies.

The federal government is permanently placing a drug popularly known as “bath salts” on its list of most dangerous substances.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is formally classifying the drug methylone as a Schedule 1 substance. The designation brings tough penalties for possession and distribution of the drug.

By using its most restrictive category, the DEA has determined that methlyone has no medical use and could be easily abused.

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department opened the application process Tuesday for $54 million in grants to help people navigate the new insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act.

HHS released the grant opportunity for "navigators" — people who will help consumers shop for insurance in newly created exchanges.

HHS said it expects to spend up to $54 million to fund navigators.

The groups want employees to have a say on whether their insurance would cover contraception.

Citing safety concerns, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chairman Gregory Jaczko says the nation’s 104 nuclear power reactors should be replaced with newer technology, The New York Times reports.

Jaczco’s remarks come as the current NRC members face scrutiny over the implementation of a series of safety recommendations put forth in the wake of the Fukushima meltdown in Japan.

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a new chief, following the Senate’s unanimous vote to confirm her as the financial regulator’s chairman, The Hill’s On The Money blog reports. 

President Obama's top climate adviser said controversial new power plant emission rules will be issued in the "not too distant future," according to The Hill's E2 Wire blog.

Tree fruit farmers have joined the debate over the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed food safety overhaul, The Washington Post reports.

They are not the only group to find fault with the proposed regulations, which will exempt several fruits and veggies -- along with almost eight in 10 U.S. farms, as reported by RegWatch earlier this year. 

Proposed regulations prohibiting soda, candy and other high-calorie snacks from schools are winning praise from the produce industry, which stands to gain from the measures.

A product of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA), the proposed rule was unveiled in February. Under its language, schools are only allowed to sell fruits, vegetables, dairy product, protein foods and grains.

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The Obama administration is moving to ease the national transition from paper to electronic health records through a pair of proposed rules to be published this week.

The rules, to hit Tuesday’s Federal Register, would update and extend existing regulations surrounding the sharing of patient electronic records.

Federal law generally prohibits hospitals from giving medical record software to doctors who would then use it to refer patients back to the facility for treatment. Violations can be charged as felonies and are punishable by prison time and fined up to $25,000.

Groups supporting the contraception mandate in President Obama's healthcare law collected and formally filed almost 350,000 comments on the policy.

Monday was the last day for the public to submit formal comments on the regulations implementing the contraception mandate. 

A coalition including Planned Parenthood and the National Women's Law Center urged their members and supporters to file comments, and ultimately flooded the Health and Human Services Department with nearly 350,000 submissions.

The country's largest surgical hair-restoration firm has settled with the federal government over charges that it illegally exchanged corporate information with a competitor.

In the settlement released on Monday, Bosley Inc. resolved charges with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the company shared "competitively sensitive, nonpublic information about its business operations" with Hair Club, another hair-restoration company.

Bosley is a subsidiary of the Japanese company Aderans Co. Ltd, which last July announced its intention to acquire Hair Club for $163.5 million. The FTC alleged that the chief executives of the two companies discussed products, prices, discounts and operations for years before the acquisition was announced.

Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) says the new ObamaCare insurance brokers known as “navigators” are likely to cost more than they’re worth because of "inflated" salaries. 

Marchant's questions stem from a recently released Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposal outlining the specifics of the navigators, a fleet of individuals that will help Americans without employer-provided insurance figure out how to use the new healthcare exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act.

In an April 4 letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Marchant expressed concerns with the estimated hourly wages for the positions. 

“In an attempt to reduce health care costs, the greatest possible portion of taxpayer funds should go to treating patients rather than being absorbed by administration and public relations,” wrote Marchant, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.