Prescription Drug User Fee Act-Drug Approval Process-Medical Device-Congress-FDA

Bipartisanship in Congress, in Support of Pharma and Device Industries

It's often said today that Congress is totally dysfunctional and cannot agree on anything due to the huge partisan culture war. Well, the good news is that there's bipartisan cooperation on at least one issue. The bad news is that it's all in favor of handing the foxes at the pharmaceutical and medical device industries the key to the FDA henhouse. 
The estimable Merrill Goozner: http://gooznews.com/?p=3914--has blogged about the latest renewal round of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, where drug firms agree to pay a lot of the freight for running the FDA's drug approval process, and almost always manage to wring out favorable concessions in exchange for their largesse. Among the Christmas list the industry wants this time, and that Congress, well primed by the lobbyists, is apparently ready to hand them, are:

• More use of surrogate markers to approve new drugs, without demanding proof that the actual diseases that affect people get any better (e.g., a drug that lowers blood sugar but does nothing to prevent heart attacks or strokes or blindness from diabetes)
• Complete gutting of the reforms called for in the recent Institute of Medicine report to toughen requirements for testing new devices for safety

Gooz reports that consumer advocacy groups are incensed over these concessions but are getting nowhere with Congress.
The solution, as we have known for a good while, is to stop depending on the drug industry to fund the FDA--though replacing drug bucks with taxpayer bucks won't make that army of lobbyists go away (meaning that at some point or other, campaign finance reform is desperately needed as well). read more..

Medicaid Managed Care-State Representative-Medicaid Expansion-Health Insurance-State Government

Have Lunch with your State Medicaid Representative at the Medicaid Managed Care Congress!

The 20th Annual Medicaid Managed Care Congress is just around the corner, taking place April 30-May 2, and you’re invited to an exclusive luncheon discussion with a State Representative. This is your opportunity to ask state government officials questions and converse with other attendees about Medicaid Expansion, Health Insurance Exchanges, and Dual Eligibles. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to speak with key stakeholders and walk away with exclusive information about your state.
To reserve your seat at the table, please use the specific state Priority Codes when registering:
Lunch on Tuesday, May 1:

• - Michael Norton, Senior Program Manager, Massachusetts Health Connector
• ?Register with Priority Code BLOGMA
• - Deborah Florio, Administrator, Center for Child & Family Health, Rhode Island Department of Human Services
• ? Register with Priority Code BLOGRI
• - Joe Vesowate, Deputy Director, Managed Care Operations for Medicaid and CHIP Texas Department of Health & Human Services
• ? Register with Priority Code BLOGTX
• - Amy Allen, Healthcare Reform Planning Director, Department of Community Health, Michigan
• ? Register with Priority Code BLOGMI

Lunch on Wednesday, May 2:

• - Valerie Harr, Director, Division of Medical Assistance & Health Services, State of New Jersey.
• ? Register with Priority Code BLOGNJ

For more information on The Medicaid Manged Care Congress, including the complete program, visit the webpage to download the brochure.
Also, don’t forget as a reader of this blog, you can receive 25% off the standard registration rate with the above Priority Codes. For more information on the Medicaid Managed Care Congress and to register to have lunch with your Medicaid Representative, visit our webpage.  If you have any questions about the event, feel free to email Jennifer Pereira. read more..