A bipartisan letter authored by Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), and co-signed by congresswomen and men from twelve states, has been sent to the FDA urging them to require clear warnings about mercury toxicity to every dental patient, and to establish specific protections for children and young women.
Under a new Vermont law, drug and device manufacturers will have to publicly disclose all gifts (in direct payments, speaking and consulting fees, grants, food, lodging and transportation, and books) they make to healthcare providers. The law will require specific disclosure of doctors’ names, dollar amounts, and the medical products to which the spending is […]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to cereal manufacturer General Mills for claiming on its cereal box that Cheerios can help lower cholesterol, and saying on their website that “diets rich in whole grain foods can reduce the risk of heart disease.” The letter, dated May 5, called the above […]
Last week, AAHF contacted the Senate Finance Committee, which is working on proposals to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs. We asked committee members to look at two sections in particular: Health Information Technology (HealthIT), and Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER).
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) announced that the Senate HELP Committee has approved President Obama’s nomination of Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, a former New York City health commissioner, as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. The approval process now moves to the full Senate.
Thanks to AAHF legislative director Tami Wahl, the Michigan state legislature is hearing the concerns of AAHF on the creation of rules to implement the bill on licensure of dietitians and nutritionists in Michigan. Read Tami’s analysis:
A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has completed a two-year study sampling the blood and urine of activists from Rachel’s Network, which funded the study, using four independent labs to analyze for toxic chemicals.
On May 1, consumers were urged by the FDA to immediately stop using fourteen Hydroxycut weight loss products. The manufacturer recalled Hydroxicut after the FDA received 23 reports of liver damage under the Adverse Event Reporting system that now includes dietary supplements—several reports of jaundice, one incident that required a liver transplant, and one death.
Dr. David Blumenthal has been named the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as part of the economic stimulus package allocating more than $20 billion for a massive move to electronic medical records (EMRs). Dr. Blumenthal recently published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine noting, as he starts his Washington job, that […]
In 2007 a deal was struck between the British National Health Service (NHS) and drug manufacturer Johnson and Johnson (J&J). NHS had decided not to pay for J&J’s cancer drug, Velcade, so J&J gave NHS a money-back guarantee.