Health Care


FDA Forming Working Group on Imported Prescription Drugs to Address Price Spikes

The working group will examine importation of drugs that have seen significant price increases or significant access challenges for patients, and it will examine the potential to promote competition for drugs that are off-patent or off-exclusivity and produced by one manufacturer.

FDA Approves First Drug to Treat Smallpox

"This is the first product to be awarded a Material Threat Medical Countermeasure priority review voucher," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. "Today's action reflects the FDA's commitment to ensuring that the U.S. is prepared for any public health emergency with timely, safe, and effective medical products."

The data NIOSH researchers developed show that firefighters in turnout gear do not fit well in today

Updating the NORA Public Safety Agenda

Cardiovascular disease, cancer, and chronic diseases are the first recommendation because stress is such a big factor affecting public safety workers' health.

Injury and Illness Data Due July 1 from Some Employers, OSHA Reminds

Electronic submissions are required from establishments with 250 or more employees that are currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records and establishments with 20 to 249 employees that are classified in specific industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.

Almost 9,500 Texas Flu Deaths Recorded This Season

The Texas Department of State Health Services' latest flu surveillance report says flu activity in the state peaked in late January. It shows how hard-hit the state was, saying the season's cases through June 16, 2018, total 34,673 confirmed cases of Influenza A or B.

NIH-Funded Study Shows Viruses May Play Role in Alzheimer's

The study has found new evidence that viruses may play a role in Alzheimer's disease, the agency reported June 21. NIH said additional research is needed to determine whether their role is causative.

Reasonable suspicion drug testing is a critical safety measure.

Oklahoma Voters Pass Medical Marijuana Measure

Opponents had warned that the wording of State Question 788 is so broad that its passage would effectively legalize recreational use, as well.

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage of 20,400 primary care physicians by 2020.

NIOSH Publishes Research Agenda for Health Care and Social Assistance

Comments are due by Aug. 20 on the document. It outlines suggested research work to improve both health care workers' and their patients' safety, prevent workplace violence in health care settings, and improve infection control in health care workplaces, as well as determine the impact of strategies and technologies for preventing sharps injuries.



California Confirms First WNV Cases of 2018

The risk of serious illness to most people is low, but some people can develop serious illnesses such as encephalitis or meningitis. In 2017, there were 553 reported WNV cases in California, including 44 deaths.

The rule will require employers to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours and work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or an employee

Health Canada Regs Would Strengthen Surveillance of Drugs, Medical Devices

The proposed regulations would require hospitals to report all serious adverse drug reactions and medical device incidents, in writing, within 30 days of when the incident was first documented within the hospital.

SAMHSA Updates Toolkit to Help Prevent Opioid Deaths

The toolkit recommends that naloxone be made available to first responders and others who might respond to a possible overdose.

Final Rule Will Streamline Bill Processing for Disabled Miners

The new regulations adopt industry-standard payment formulas derived from those used by Medicare and are similar to those used by other OWCP-administered compensation programs for federal employees, and the rule codifies the black lung program's current payment practice for prescription drug payments.

NIH Outlines Plans for $500 Million to Address Opioid Epidemic

Earlier this year, Congress passed a two-year budget that included $6 billion to address the opioid epidemic and mental health, $500 million of which went to NIH to address the crisis that is causing an estimated 115 U.S. deaths daily.

Research Shows Gaps in Aquaculture Industry Safety, Health

"Aquaculture occupational health and safety is frequently marginalized or lost by government, industry, and sometimes labor organizations," Watterson said.

FDA Issues Draft Guidance to Aid Development of Critical Drugs

FDA is discussing with other agencies changing the model for reimbursement of certain new, anti-microbial drugs that meet critical public health needs, possibly by using a licensing model so that acute care institutions that are most likely to prescribe these medicines would pay a fixed licensing fee for access to the drug.

OSHA Sets Long Timetables for Tree Care, Infectious Disease Standards

The semiannual regulatory flexibility agenda includes rules that are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Two from OSHA are prerule stage -- Communication Tower Safety and a Tree Care Standard -- and two are long-term actions -- Infectious Diseases and Process Safety Management.

DOL Hails Contingent Worker Report

"Never before in this series of data have these percentages been so low, providing evidence that the 2017 American workforce was more secure in their jobs than at any other time that this survey was taken," DOL said in a statement about the new BLS report.

SAMHSA Offers Opioids Treatment Grants to Hard-Hit States

Thirty-five states and tribal organizations nationwide are eligible to apply. SAMHSA says the desired outcomes of the grant program are to increase the number of people receiving medication-assisted treatment for their opioid use disorder and a decrease in heroin use and prescription opioid misuse.

Bloodborne Pathogens Compliance Still a Concern

Two former OSHA staffers identified the agency's most-cited violations during 25 years of enforcement (1991-2015), presenting their findings at AIHce EXP 2018.

ACGIH Presenting 2018 Awards at AIHce

This year's honorees include Dr. Bennet Omalu, best known for having first identified the disease he named Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in athletes who had competed in high-impact contact sports. He will receive the William Steiger Memorial Award.

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