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Senate HELP Panel Begins Mark Up Of Bill Placing Tobacco Under FDA Oversight
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday began marking up a bill (S 982) that would allow FDA to regulate tobacco products, CongressDaily reports. The bill would allow FDA to place larger, color warning labels about the health risks of smoking on cigarette packs, as well as to regulate the marketing of tobacco products and advertising to children. The agency could not ban tobacco products or eliminate nicotine from cigarettes, but it could regulate their production and ban flavored cigarettes other than menthol. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said, "Over the years, this bill has been reviewed; it has been vetted; it has been debated, over and over and over again. The time has come to act." The House in April passed its version of the bill, 298-112 (Hunt, CongressDaily, 5/20). The committee by voice vote approved an amendment proposed by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) that would give FDA priority to review products that contain nicotine, such as candies. Committee ranking member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) proposed two amendments, one that would have given regulatory authority over tobacco to CDC and another that would have ordered FDA to study which flavors to ban, instead of a current provision that bans specific flavors. Both amendments were defeated. Enzi said, "I think the FDA is the wrong regulator. It approves cures, not poisons." The only Democrat who opposed the bill was Sen. Kay Hagan (N.C.), who said the measure would harm the tobacco industry in her home state (Armstrong, CQ HealthBeat, 5/19). The panel"s other member from North Carolina, Sen. Richard Burr (R), said he would filibuster the bill. He said, "I put my fellow senators on notice: This is something that will be a much longer time on the floor than it will be in this hearing" (CongressDaily, 5/20). The committee plans to continue marking up the bill Wednesday and possibly Thursday.The Obama administration has expressed its support for the bill (CQ HealthBeat, 5/19). FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg also has said her agency should regulate tobacco (Armstrong, CQ HealthBeat, 5/18).
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Pilot Study Confirms That Children With Autism Need To Be Taught In Smaller Groups
Since the 1970s, there has been much debate surrounding the fact that individuals with autism have difficulty in understanding speech in situations where there is background speech or noise.
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Editorial Calls Supreme Court's Pregnancy Leave Decision 'Not Just'
"The Supreme Court keeps finding ways to deny women equal pay and benefits," a New York Times editorial states in response to the court"s 7-2 ruling on Monday that employers are not required to award women credit toward pension benefits for pregnancy leave taken before Congress passed the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. According to the Times, the ruling reflects reasoning similar to the court"s 2007 decision in which it denied former Goodyear employee Lilly Ledbetter"s "claim for equal pay because it thought she waited too long to file it." In Monday"s decision, the majority "reasoned mainly that the pregnancy leaves predated the 1978 law, and since the law was not retroactive, the discrepancy in benefits was the product of "past completed events that were entirely lawful at the time they occurred,"" the editorial states. It notes that the majority included "two generally reliable votes for equality, Justices John Paul Stevens and David Souter." The editorial continues, "This may sound logical, but it is not just." The editorial says that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in writing the dissent, "quite correctly" recognized a company"s "ongoing denial of equal benefits not as past discriminatory behavior that started and ended decades ago, but as a current violation of the act." In a similar way, "Goodyear discriminated against Lilly Ledbetter by maintaining her unequal pay for years, not merely the first time the company underpaid her." The Times calls on Congress to "write corrective legislation" on pregnancy leave (New York Times, 5/21).
Medical Devices

Lautenberg Announces Nearly $17 Million For 20 Health Centers Across New Jersey

Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) announced 20 New Jersey health centers will receive $16,987,384 to address facility and equipment needs, increase access to health care for underserved populations, and create construction-related jobs. The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funds are being provided under the Economic Recovery Law signed by President Obama in February. "These tough economic times are straining the budgets of our hospitals and health care centers, so it"s critical we provide res to help them provide the care our communities need. With these funds, we will help create jobs and give our health centers the tools they need to provide quality, affordable health care to those who need it most," said Sen. Lautenberg. CIP funds are to be used to address pressing capital improvement needs in health centers, such as construction, repair, renovation, and equipment purchases, including the acquisition of health information technology systems. Before being awarded federal funds, health centers must demonstrate how their projects will lead to improvements in access to health services for underserved populations and create health center and construction-related jobs. The following health centers will receive federal funds: Grantee Name - City - CIP Grant Award Atlanticare Health Services - Egg Harbor Township - $364,170.00 Camcare Health Corporation - Camden - $1,375,355.00 Community Health Care, Inc. - Bridgeton - $1,756,575.00 Henry J. Austin Health Center - Trenton - $886,335.00 Horizon Health Center- Jersey City- $682,390.00 Jewish Renaissance Medical Center - Perth Amboy- $727,645.00 Lakewood Re And Referral Center, Inc.- Lakewood - $250,000.00 Metropolitan Family Health Network, Inc - Jersey City - $630,345.00 Monmouth Family Health Center - Long Branch - $250,000.00 Neighborhood Health Services Corporation, Inc. - Plainfield - $1,114,080.00 Newark City Health And Human Services - Newark - $341,595.00 Newark Community Health Centers, Inc. - Newark - $891,760.00 North Hudson Community Action Corporation - West New York - $2,391,440.00 Ocean Health Initiatives, Inc. - Lakewood - $758,550.00 Paterson Community Health Center, Inc. - Paterson - $890,920.00 Project H.O.P.E., Incorporated - Camden - $306,385.00 Southern Jersey Family - Hammonton - $1,817,440.00 Umdnj - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School - New Brunswick - $498,384.00 Vnacj Community Health Center - Asbury Park - $514,845.00 Zufall Health Center, Inc. - Dover - $539,170.00 Total $16,987,384.00 Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg


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