"Health & Medical News"

Better vigilance is needed to ensure medical research on human subjects is not flawed by financial conflicts of interest, according to the Assn. of American Medical Colleges and the Assn. of American Universities.

In March, the two organizations issued a report that calls on medical schools and research universities to put into place conflict-of-interest policies within two years. Such policies should cover how to identify, evaluate and manage financial conflicts, the report said.

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Washington — Muscle provided by Congress last fall was intended to allow the Food and Drug Administration to police drugs already on the market. Findings from this effort could enhance physicians’ understanding of a medication’s potential for harm or their ability to identify patients at risk for adverse events.

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Washington — Federal regulators have proposed sweeping patient safety rules to give physicians and others a confidential, voluntary way to report medical errors and near mistakes. Several health care organizations applauded the release of the long-awaited regulations but want a closer look before making a final judgment.

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Physicians increasingly are talking about prescribing hormone therapy for recently menopausal women. Meanwhile, regulators are cracking down on claims about compounded formulations, according to statements issued in January.

With regard to traditional hormone therapy, the American Assn. of Clinical Endocrinologists published on its Web site last month a position statement saying this strategy is safe for women who are younger than 60 or who are less than a decade past menopause and is a viable option for those experiencing symptoms related to this life change.

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More than 100 Michigan intensive-care units cut their average catheter-related bloodstream infection rate 66% by implementing a simple checklist of proven infection-control practices such as hand washing and removing unnecessary catheters.

But the Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Office for Human Research Protections last fall ordered the hospitals to suspend collecting data documenting the research project’s success because researchers did not properly comply with federal regulations aimed at safeguarding patients.

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Washington — Assuring the safety of medical products imported from China, including certain antibiotics and a popular statin, is the goal of a new agreement signed in Beijing by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and the head of China’s State Food and Drug Administration.

The two nations are embarking on a plan to build safety into importation from the start, Leavitt said in a Dec. 19, 2007, speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “We can’t inspect everything,” he noted. “We need to know who to trust.”

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It is holiday time, and everyone is getting ready to cook up a feast. This includes everyone’s favorite dishes, from stuffing to pumpkin pie. Friends and families are gathering together and sharing in the love that speaks so loudly this time of year. There are many things rushing through our minds during this time of year, but one of the things that most people forget to consider is food safety. This is actually a very important issue, when you consider how much cooking is going on, and you want to make sure that you take care in the preparation of your food in order to ensure that no one gets sick.

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President Bush today signed a comprehensive Food and Drug Administration bill that focuses on prescription drug safety reforms.  The bill holds the prescription drug industry more accountable for the safety of their products by requiring them to publicly disclose drug safety studies, even the ones that show their medicines in an unflattering light.  It also increases the budget for drug safety reviews at the Food and Drug Administration. 

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California bill will prod national decision makers, serve in lieu of federal policy if Congress fails to act

SACRAMENTO—The California Assembly Health Committee passed the Pharmaceutical Drug Information and Safety Act, SB 606 (Scott), today with all members present voting in favor of the bill. The measure will require pharmaceutical companies to disclose the results of clinical studies, meaning that doctors, patients, researchers and even industry competitors will gain access to information on the side effects and effectiveness of medicine currently on the market.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

SACRAMENTO—The Senate Health Committee today passed SB 1683, the Pharmaceutical Drug Right-to-Know Act. The bill, authored by Senator Jack Scott (Alta Dena) and sponsored by CALPIRG, would require drug companies to release the results of all their health studies for every drug sold in California.

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Popularity: 9% [?]