Legal Category
FDA Mandates Tougher Standards on Use of Immunosuppressive Drugs
Immunosuppressive drugs are drugs that inhibit or prevent activity of the immune system. They are used to prevent transplant rejection, to treat autoimmune disorders (i.e. rheumatoid arthritis) and to treat other conditions such as asthma.
Federal health authorities have asked the manufacturers of four widely used immunosuppressive drugs to bolster black box warnings on the risk of developing opportunistic fungal infections with the use of these drugs. The four drugs in question are Humira, Cimzia, Enbrel and Remicade.
Native Essence Herb Company Sues the Federal Trade Commission
In a precedent setting case, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is being sued by Native Essence Herb Company and its owners, Mark and Marianne Hershieser. A New Mexico herb company, Native Essence, says that the First Amendment gives it the right to tell customers the historical use of herbs in treating serious diseases. The FTC states that this practice violates its guidelines.
The issue is now headed toward court according to attorney Richard Jaffe, Esq., a leading health care attorney who is also the author of “Galileo’s Lawyer”, an insider’s look into the battles between the government and complementary medicine.
The company owner, Mark Hershieser, wants to post historical use information on his website and he wants the courts to allow that right. Most of the information posted has been taken from federal government websites, ironically.
Healthcare: Right or Privilege, another look.
I have raised the question on my own blog site Healthcare Today whether healthcare itself is a privilege or a right; citizenship and immigration issues aside. After reviewing the bill of rights I was unable to determine if there was any clear mention of such related topics and I wasn’t able to find any reference. Clearly the founders had many other issues of more importance on their plates at the time. The only small mention that perhaps one could tie into healthcare was from the Declaration of Independence …that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…;hardly a strong case for the right of healthcare for all.
Medical Errors and Adverse Event Reporting in Healthcare Transparency.
Will healthcare organizations raise the bar on transparency and start reporting adverse events in a public forum as they do costs, and other quality of care indicators?
Transparency, a word with several connotations: free from pretense or deceit, readily understood, characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices. When healthcare organizations discuss the notion of transparency the later two descriptions exemplify the concept. Organizational transparency in healthcare has typically taken the form of selected quality of care indicators.
Cost of health benefits may get you fired.
Bad habits may get your fired. Over the last several months media sources have reported stories about companies that have targeted employees with bad habits. These so called targeted employees have found themselves in the cross hairs of company managers for termination. Termination solely based on “bad habits. Smoking is the favorite vice that has some companies up in arms. In an attempt to mitigate health benefit costs – at least the company’s out of pocket expenses – workers are losing their jobs because of their personal habits.
