Congress Wraps Up for Summer Recess
With Congress scheduled to leave for August recess the end
of this week, the House and Senate kept themselves busy passing numerous bills
both on the
floor and in committee. The House has passed all 12 appropriations bills,
with the Senate completing committee mark up on all bills. Yet many key appropriations
bills, including
the agriculture
and the
labor,
health & human
services bills, have yet to be passed by the Senate.
Congress will be returning after Labor Day, with the Senate
set to start September 6 on consideration of the nomination of John Roberts
to
the United States Supreme Court.
Inside Track will not be published during August.
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House Passes Controlled Substances Bills
On July 27, the House passed S. 45 and S. 1395, clearing the bills
for the President.
S. 45 amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to
remove the patient limitation on prescribing opiate addiction therapies
by physicians
in group practices. Under current law, physicians are limited to treating
30 patients at a time. This limitation applies to both individual physicians
and groups, thus resulting in limiting large group practices with
dozens or hundreds of doctors to treating the same number of patients
as an individual physician in a solo practice. S. 45 clarifies
while each physician in a group practice will be limited to 30 patients,
that limit is not applicable to the group as a whole.
The Senate passed S. 45 by unanimous consent last
week and the House Energy & Commerce and Judiciary Committees had
already reported H.R. 869, an identical bill. S. 45 is sponsored
by Sens.
Carl Levin
(D-MI), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Charles Grassley (R-IA),
Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY). H.R. 869 is sponsored
by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) and a bipartisan group of 44 others.
Souder, speaking in support of the bill, noted the importance of a
fairly new FDA-approved therapy, buprenorphine, stating the current
30-patient cap has unnecessarily limited use of this product. He described
this as “a major new tool to fight addiction [that] does not
have a high potential for misuse or fatal overdose.”
He listed numerous organizations supporting the legislation,
including the American Medical Assoc., the National Assoc.
of State
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, the Assoc. of American Medical
Colleges, the American Psychiatric and Psychological Assoc.,
Kaiser Permanente, the American Group Practice Assoc., and the
City of New York. Also speaking in favor of the bill were Reps. Nathan
Deal (R-GA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Michael Capuano (D-MA) and Elijah
Cummings (D-MD). The bill passed the House by a recorded vote of 429-0.
S. 1395, the Senate companion to H.R. 184, the Controlled
Substances Export Reform Act, amends the CSA to allow in specified
circumstances
the re-export of controlled substances. The changes in law will allow
a manufacturer to export a controlled substance prescription drug to
a non-U.S. location, with further export from that location to another.
Under current law, each export from the U.S. can be only to a single
country, with no possibility of re-export.
Supporters of the legislation point out it will allow
companies to operate more efficiently and cost effectively by shipping
larger quantities
of the product to one overseas country and, from there, to ship smaller
quantities to additional purchasers. All shipments must be reported
to the DEA in advance and afterwards.
H.R. 184 is sponsored by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA)
and a bipartisan group of nine others; S. 1395 is sponsored by Hatch
and Biden. S. 1395
passed the Senate by unanimous consent July 13, and H.R. 184 had been
reported by the House Energy & Commerce and Judiciary Committees
June 9 and July 11, respectively. S. 1395 passed the House by voice
vote.
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Senate Preparing for September Stem Cell Debate
On July 29, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN)
announced on the Senate floor his support for stem cell research and
H.R. 810,
the Stem
Cell Enhancement Act, and a vote on the legislation when Congress returns
from its August recess.
The Senate is planning on bringing H.R. 810 to the
floor as part of a package of six or now possibly seven bills. One
of these is a bill
from Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) that would ban human somatic cell nuclear
transfer research.
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Senate Committee Reports Contact Lens Bill
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
(HELP) Committee reported July 27, S. 172, a bill to amend the Food,
Drug & Cosmetic
Act (FDCA) to require all contact lenses be regulated as medical devices.
The bill has been placed on the Senate calendar.
Sponsored by Sens. Mike DeWine (R-OH), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and a bipartisan
group of eight others, the bill would amend section 520 of the FDCA
to deem all prescription and non-prescription contact lenses medical
devices. The bill is a response to concerns about the marketing and
sale of non-corrective lenses, including colored and other decorative
lenses, without prescriptions or any oversight of an eye-care professional.
The bill’s findings assert eye injuries
have been associated with these lenses. FDA has argued, in response
to several congressional
inquiries over the past two years, the agency does not have the authority
to regulate non-corrective lenses. These lenses do not technically
meet the definition of “medical device” since they do not
have the purpose to prevent or treat a disease or other medical condition.
S. 172 would provide this authority without otherwise broadening the
definition of medical device.
H.R. 371, the companion to S. 172 sponsored by Rep.
John Boozman (R-AK) and 60 others, has not yet been considered by the
House Energy & Commerce
Committee, to which it is referred.
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House Passes All-Schedules Reporting Act
By voice vote, the House passed H.R. 1132 July 26,
a bill to require the Secretary of HHS to award grants to states for
electronic
systems
to monitor the dispensing of prescription drugs that are controlled
substances in Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Schedules II, III,
and IV. A number of states already have such activities using funds
from Department of Justice appropriations. H.R. 1132 specifically authorizes
such a grant program in law, as opposed to leaving it to the annual
appropriations process to obtain funding.
The bill would put in place standards states would
need to put in place to qualify for the funds. Among these are states
must require
dispensers to report no later than one week after dispensing a controlled
substance to a patient or a research subject and must establish and
operate electronic searchable databases containing this information.
The state information could be shared with entities such as practitioners,
law enforcement officials, other state programs and various federal
health and controlled substance/drug enforcement programs. A uniform
electronic format would be established so state programs would be interoperable.
In comments on the House floor, Representatives on
both sides of the aisle expressed support for the bill, including bill
sponsors Rep.
Edward Whitfield (R-KY), Charlie Norwood (R-GA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
and the chair and ranking Democrat on the Energy & Commerce health
subcommittee, Reps. Nathan Deal (R-GA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). They
cited the need for such activities to address the nation’s growing
problem of prescription drug abuse. H.R. 1132 is sponsored by 35 House
members of both parties.
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), speaking in opposition, expressed concern the
bill does not include sufficient patient privacy protections. In particular,
he said the bill would allow for systems that do not prevent disclosure
of personal medical information about individuals receiving prescriptions
for these substances as part of their legitimate medical care.
Meanwhile, a similar Senate bill, S. 518, has been
reported by the Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee.
S. 518 has bipartisan support from the principal sponsor Sen. Jeff
Sessions (R-AL)
joined by HELP committee ranking member Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and
a bipartisan group of six others. While there are differences between
S. 518 and H.R. 1132, reportedly they are not so great as to prevent
a compromise emerging relatively easily and swiftly.
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Patient Safety Legislation Becomes
Law
The Patient Safety & Quality Improvement act passed
by the Senate July 21 and by the House July 27, was signed by
the President
July 29. The bill is hailed as being a viable and necessary
response to growing concerns about patient illness, injury, and death
resulting from medical errors. Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) sponsored
the Senate bill S. 544 with the companion bill, H.R. 3205, sponsored
by Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL).
Congressional action on this matter followed on the
heels of a report by the National Academy of Sciences noting significant
action
was called for, in light of growing numbers of patients injured through
avoidable mistakes in healthcare settings. The legislation requires the
following:
• the HHS Secretary to maintain a database
network with patient safety data that is searchable, but protects patient
privacy;
• establishes a system of Patient Safety Organizations
(PSO) to which providers can disclose medical errors on a voluntary
basis, including
information that identifies reckless behavior as well as information
identifying mistakes, but without identifying patients;
• protects providers who voluntarily disclose information
in good faith;
• provides for research using the data collected
by the PSOs, to allow better understanding of how to prevent or minimize
errors; and,
• and requires the development of standards
that promote the electronic exchange of information.
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New FDA Commissioner has Baptism By
Fire; Makes Key Management Changes
Newly confirmed by the Senate, FDA Commissioner Dr.
Lester Crawford made his first official appearance July 26 before the
House Appropriations
subcommittee on agriculture, rural development, Food & Drug Administration,
& related agencies. This could have been the routine appropriations
testimony of an agency head, but since the House already passed the
appropriations bill, this was a somewhat unusual juxtaposition of events.
In fact, House action withheld funds from FDA because Crawford
had not presented the agency’s routine budget testimony prior
to bill action. Several House members referred, during House debate
on the FDA appropriations bill, to their intention to withhold these
funds until hearing from Crawford.
While the testimony discussed both the general budget
numbers and priorities for FDA, it also included a strong focus on
what members
wanted to discuss – drug safety. Crawford pointed to a number
of actions taken by the agency or under way to enhance the agency’s
approach to drug safety, including the transparency of its actions.
He pointed, for example, to the newly established Drug Safety Oversight
Board and the proposed Drug Watch web page. His testimony also emphasized
other drug safety actions that pre-dated the recent congressional focus
on the topic.
Members who questioned Crawford about drug safety
(especially ranking subcommittee member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)) were
not satisfied, and
criticized the FDA for not being more aggressive. In particular, they
were critical of Crawford for allegedly not being straight with Congress
about FDA’s need for additional legal authority. In response
to repeated demands for a straighter answer and quotes from various
FDA officials
who had either testified before Congress or spoken to the press, Crawford
finally stated he would re-evaluate and think further about whether
FDA needs additional authority to require post-market studies and/or
require specific product re-labeling. He said he would “work
with” members on these and related matters, moving forward.
Among Crawford’s actions since his confirmation
is the establishment, announced July 29, of a new FDA council to coordinate
the Management, Strategic Planning, and Regulations Policy Councils.
He named Dr. Janet Woodcock head of the council, in her new capacity
as deputy commissioner for operations. She has been acting in that
capacity for a significant period of time and is the former head of
the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation & Research.
Crawford also announced the permanent appointment
of Dr. Murray Lumpkin as deputy commissioner for international affairs;
the appointment of
Patrick Ronan, currently associate commissioner for legislative affairs,
as chief staff officer; and the hiring of Dr. Scott Gottlieb as deputy
commissioner for medical and scientific affairs. Woodcock will continue
to oversee the FDA’s Critical Path and 21st Century GMPs initiatives
and Lumpkin will continue to oversee combination products and pediatric
therapeutics.
In describing the new structure and appointments,
Crawford said, “This
new structure represents an efficient and compact central organization
that bespeaks our commitment to advance and protect the public health
by doing our jobs wisely and well.”
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Medical Device User Fees Legislation
Cleared for White House
On July 26, the House passed H.R. 3423, the Medical
Device User Fee Stabilization Act; the Senate followed passing the
bill July
27, and clearing it to be signed into law. The legislation corrects
some problems with the existing device user fee program structure in
terms of the so-called “appropriations trigger” for the
collection of fees. In addition, the bill places a limit of 8.5% on
the amount application fees can increase and modifies the small business
definitions.
Under the new provisions, a business with $30 million or less gross
receipts or sales will be entitled to one free pre-market application
of 510(k) notification. Businesses with $200 million or less revenue
may be entitled to fee reductions.
Under current law, FDA is required to report to Congress
annually on the extent to which the agency has met its user fee performance
goals and provide a financial accounting of how it has spent the user
fee income. H.R. 3423 adds several specific requirements to what must
be included in the annual reports, including: (1) information on the
number and types of applications and 510(k)
notifications received from, and the amounts of fees paid by small
businesses, categorizing these business in $10 million increments up
to $100 million, and (2) certification by the Secretary that the FDA
appropriation for non-user-fee activities is not less than the FY02
appropriation multiplied
by the annual adjustment factor.
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Senate Judiciary Reports Methamphetamine Bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee reported July 28, S.
103, the Combat Meth Act, and the bill was placed on the Senate calendar.
The
legislation
is sponsored by Sens. Jim Talent (R-MO), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and
a bipartisan group of 34 others. The bill would
amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to add pseudoephedrine to
the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Schedule V controlled
substances list, and to add that non-prescription psuedoephedrine-containing
products
must be sold, dispensed, and distributed only by a licensed pharmacist
or pharmacy technician.
Essentially, this means pseudoephedrine-containing
over-the-counter drugs must be sold “behind the counter” in
retail stores. In addition, the bill would require every transaction
be recorded and
purchasers provide photo identification. Each purchaser of a pseudoephedrine-containing
OTC product would be limited to no more than 9 grams per month. DEA
would be authorized to exempt products from these requirements upon
a determination the product is not being used in the illegal manufacture
of methamphetamine or other dangerous substance.
In addition, the “behind-the-counter” requirements
could be changed, by regulation, if DEA determines “the absence
of a pharmacy causes a hardship for the community” and other
procedures would accomplish the goal. Finally, a manufacturer could
provide evidence
to DEA the product containing pseudoephedrine is formulated to prevent
its use to manufacture methamphetamine. In such a case, that product
could be exempt from the Schedule V requirement.
Other provisions of the legislation include the following:
• authorization of funds to train state and
local law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute methamphetamine
offenses;
• expansion of community policing programs;
• authorization of grants to develop programs for rapid response on
behalf of drug-endangered children and for methamphetamine abuse treatment;
• requirement to allocate Justice Department funds to train special
U.S. attorneys, and
• authorization of Justice Department grants for monitoring methamphetamine
precursors.
A related House bill, H.R. 314 introduced by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
and 45 others, is pending before the House Judiciary Committee.
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USDA Testing Tissue from
Suspect Cow
Brain tissue samples from a suspect dairy cow which
died on-farm in April are on their way to Weybridge, England, for testing
for BSE,
USDA announced this week. The cow, at least 12 years old, died while
calving. Samples were taken by a private veterinarian who burned the
carcass, keeping it out of the food/feed chain, but forgot to send
the samples to USDA.
While the tissue samples were not forwarded to USDA until this month,
and because the vet treated the samples with formalin, a preservative,
testing of the samples using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western
Blot tests were inconclusive. Results from retesting at Weybridge and
retesting at USDA’s Ames, Iowa laboratory are expected sometime
next week.
Dr. John Clifford, USDA’s chief veterinarian,
said during a press briefing this week initial testing at Ames, Iowa
indicated there
may be the presence of BSE, but the samples did not appear to be typical
BSE, lacking normal prion distribution. Since the second case
of BSE in the U.S., that of a Texas cow, USDA no longer allows formalin
preservation
of samples, requiring them to be shipped immediately. Clifford said
the Ames testing showed atypical BSE prion distribution in the stained
slides used in testing. France, Japan, Belgium and the United Kingdom
have all reported cases of atypical BSE, and USDA has quietly begun
further animal studies on the Texas cow samples.
Clifford and other USDA officials have said the latest case should
not affect on-going trade discussions with Japan and others.
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On Squeaker Vote, House Approves CAFTA
The House approved the Central American Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA) this week 217-215, a two-vote margin that likely
will become a one-vote
margin once a glitch in the House voting system is ironed out. The
White House and most of agriculture are celebrating the victory.
President Bush worked the phones right up to the vote, convincing
two hesitant Republican members to vote in favor of the agreement,
but failing to convince half a dozen freshman members who’d campaigned
on opposition to CAFTA. The White House also convinced the House leadership
to hold off voting on the highway reauthorization conference report
to keep members around for the CAFTA vote. In all, 42 members voted
against their party’s position on CAFTA.
The win comes after the Administration made pledges
on issues ranging from southern states’ textile concerns to labor
protections for Central American workers. Also contributing to the
win was the
Democratic leadership’s decision not to hold its members to a
straight party-line vote.
The vote margin will shrink to a single vote once the House Clerk’s
office finishes its check on an apparent electronic voting malfunction.
Initially, Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) was recorded as not voting, but
it turns out Taylor cast a “no” vote at the same time Rep.
Howard Coble (R-NC) voted against the pact. The system only recorded
Coble’s vote. Another Republican who would have voted against
the pact, Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), didn’t vote because she was
on her way to her district for a Boy Scout Jamboree event, avoiding
a tie vote on CAFTA.
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Congress Approves Energy Conference
Report
The House and Senate this week met their obligation
to complete work on the comprehensive energy package before the August
recess,
approving the energy bill
conference report. The President repeatedly urged Congress
to complete the energy package before they leave for August recess.
Conferees dumped out nearly all of the most controversial issues,
including House-approved language granting gasoline additive MTBE manufacturers
liability protection; House language allowing drilling in the Arctic
National Wildlife Reserve, and compromised on the Renewable Fuel Standard
(RFS), agreeing diesel refiners will be blending 7.5 billion gallons
of alternative fuels into gasoline and diesel fuel by 2012.
The 7.5 billion gallons is higher than many expected
given the House originally approved a 5-billion-gallon RFS standard
and the Senate
approved 8 billion gallons. Opponents of the relatively high number
contend it could drive crop prices – primarily corn for ethanol
and soybeans for biodiesel – much higher over the life of the
bill, negatively impacting livestock and poultry feeders and other
users
of those crops.
House Agriculture Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said in a formal
statement, “I will work hard to ensure that we continue to have
an affordable and ample supply of feed for livestock and poultry producers.”
The package also contains $14.5 billion in various tax breaks and
incentives to energy companies, including several sections which are
meant to accelerate refining of biodiesel, either from first-use vegetable
oils and animal fats or from recycled vegetable oils and other waste
biomass feedstocks.
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Senate, House to Finally Pass Highway Bill
Before Recess
The on-track, off-track omnibus highway reauthorization
conference committee process appears to finally be coming to an end,
as the House
and Senate are set to act to reauthorize federal highway and commuter
programs July 29.
The House hoped to vote late on Thursday, July 28, but a last-minute
snag derailed the vote.
The federal highway program expired two years ago, and Congress acted
to temporarily extend those programs 10 times in the intervening period.
The bill, widely acknowledged as carrying more individual member “earmarks” than
just about any other bill, will cost $286.4 billion over six years,
including one activist group estimate of 5,696 pork barrel projects
worth $21 billion.
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FDA Bans Poultry Antibiotic on Human Health Concerns
On July 28, FDA withdrew approval and will no longer allow distribution
or use of the antimicrobial drug enrofloxacin. Part of the flouroquinolone
family of antibiotics and commercially available as Baytril, the drug
owned by Bayer Crop is used to treat bacterial infections in poultry.
FDA said the action is in response to data showing the use of the drug
in poultry causes resistance to emerge in campylobacter, a bacterium
which causes foodborne illness.
The fate of the drug has been before an FDA administrative law judge
for several years after FDA asked enrofloxacin sponsors to voluntarily
withdraw their products. While one company did, Bayer took the agency
to court.
The FDA said its action does not affect other approvals for the drug,
but the Animal Health Institute (AHI) said it was “disappointed
by the decision…to accept the findings of the administrative
law judge. The loss of this product leaves poultry producers without
an important tool to treat sick poultry and it will reduce animal health
and welfare while increasing animal death and suffering.”
A coalition of activist groups calling itself Keep
Antibiotics Working (KAW) praised the FDA action and singled out newly
confirmed FDA Commissioner
Dr. Lester Crawford for taking the “precedent-setting” action, “the
first time that FDA has ever withdrawn an agricultural antibiotic from
the marketplace because of concerns about antibiotic resistance affecting
human health.”
The withdrawal is effective September 12, and Bayer has 60 days to
appeal the action.
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USDA, DHS, FDA Join States, Industry on Agroterror Protection
The states and private industry will join with USDA, FDA and the
Department of Homeland Security in a new collaboration to protect
agriculture and food processing from the threat of terror attacks.
Details on the initiative can be found at www.usda.gov/homelandsecurity.
The Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism (SPPA)
will create four pilot visits to food and ag facilities in September
and October
to assess and identify vulnerabilities in the food and ag sectors.
Over the next 12 months, teams of federal and state officials will
travel to all 50 states to meet with food chain sectors to discuss improvements
in protecting production and processing.
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USDA Says Farm Production Spending Up 5.1% In 2004
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS) reported this week farmers and ranchers spent $210.7 billion
on production
inputs during 2004, 5.1% more than in 2003. Average expenditure per
U.S. farm was $99,983, compared with $94,542 in 2003. The largest contributing
factors to the 2004 increase included tractors and farm machinery,
up 24.3%; fuels, up 19.4%; fertilizer, up 14%; feed, up 9.1%, and labor,
up 5.5%.
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New Bills
A number of new bills have been introduced. Click
here to send a request for a copy of the text or more information about
the bill.
S.4
Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) proposed legislation to reduce healthcare
costs, expand access to affordable healthcare coverage, and improve
healthcare and strengthen the healthcare safety net.
S.1503
Frist also introduced the “Healthy America Act of 2005.”
S.1520
Legislation proposed by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) would prohibit
human cloning.
S.1527
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced a bill to amend the Public Health
Service Act with respect to immunizations against vaccine-preventable
diseases, including influenza.
S.1532
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) offered a bill to criminalize acts
of agroterrorism and increase prevention, detection, response and
recovery planning for the United States agricultural industry and
food security.
S.1534
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) proposed legislation to reduce the risk to
the food supply from intentional contamination.
S.1543
Legislation offered by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) would provide for
clinical research support grants, clinical research infrastructure
grants, and a demonstration program on partnerships in clinical research.
S.1546
A bill proposed by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) would amend the Food Stamp
Act of 1977 to permit food stamp benefits be used to purchase nutritional
supplements providing vitamins or minerals.
S.1551
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) introduced legislation to clarify that the
overall trade negotiating objectives of the United States include
avoiding provisions in trade agreements that restrict the access
of consumers in the United States to pharmaceutical imports.
H.RES.385
Rep. Paul Gingrey (R-GA) offered a resolution to provide for consideration
of H.R. 5, a bill to provide for medical malpractice liability reform.
H.R.3408
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) offered a bill to reauthorize the Livestock
Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 and to amend the swine reporting
provisions of that Act.
H.R.3423
Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) introduced legislation to amend the Federal
Food, Drug &Cosmetic Act with respect to medical device user
fees.
H.R.3428
A bill offered by Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA) would amend the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the medicine and drugs limitation
on the deduction for medical care.
H.R.3444
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) proposed a bill to amend the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 to provide credits against income tax for qualified
stem cell research, the storage of qualified stem cells, and the
donation of umbilical cord blood.
H.R.3502
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) offered legislation to amend the Public Health
Service Act with respect to immunizations against vaccine-preventable
diseases, including influenza.
H.R.3511
A bill proposed by Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) would expand state long-term
care partnership programs under the Medicaid program.
H.R.3543
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) offered legislation to eliminate Medicare
and Medicaid coverage of drugs when used for treatment of erectile
dysfunction.
H.R.3546
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) proposed a bill to require public disclosure
of average manufacturer prices (AMP) and best prices for prescription
drugs.
H.R.3547
A bill proposed by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) would increase the affordability
of in-patient drugs for Medicaid and safety net hospitals.
H.R.3553
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) offered a legislation to prohibit the approval
of any drug that “infringes the right to life.”
H.R.3554
Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) introduced a bill to amend the crop
disaster assistance program for 2003 to clarify the manner in which
the Secretary of Agriculture is required to make assistance available
to producers under the program.
H.R.3561
Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA) introduced legislation to improve the health
of minority individuals.
H.R.3562
A bill proposed by Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-OR) would amend the Specialty
Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to increase the authorization of
appropriations for grants to support the competitiveness of specialty
crops, amend the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 to improve
the program of value-added agricultural product market development
grants by routing funds through state departments of agriculture
and amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to require a nationwide
expansion of the adjusted gross revenue insurance program.
H.R.3566
Legislation proposed by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) would prohibit federal
funds from being expended for the payment or reimbursement of drugs
prescribed for the treatment of erectile or sexual dysfunction.
H.R.3568
Rep. Tom Latham R-IA) introduced a bill that would amend the Controlled
Substances Act to provide for the transfer of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine,
and phenylpropanolamine to schedule V of the schedules of controlled
substances.
H.R.3570 & H.R. 3571
Rep. Nita Lowey (R-NY) offered legislation to amend the Federal
Food, Drug& Cosmetic Act relating to freshness dates on food
and requiring foods containing spices, flavoring, or coloring derived
from meat, poultry, or other animal products (including insects)
bear labeling stating that fact and their names.
H.R.3583
Rep. Anne Northup (R-KY) introduced legislation to clarify the
overall trade negotiating objectives of the United States include
avoiding provisions in trade agreements that restrict the access
of consumers
in the United States to pharmaceutical imports.
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