Press Releases

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Nov 30, 2010

Historic U.S. Senate Food Safety Vote will Greatly Improve Protections from Foodborne Illness

Erik D. Olson, director of the Pew Health Group food programs, issued the following statement commending the U.S. Senate for passing the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510).

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Food Hazards
May 21, 2008

Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008 Would Help More Foster Children Find Permanent Homes through Adoption, Guardianship

On Tuesday May 20, 2008, Senator Charles Grassley (Iowa) introduced the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008.  This new legislation champions permanency for children in foster care by reauthorizing the successful Adoption Incentive Program that encourages states to finalize more adoptions from foster care, ensures that all foster children with special needs can receive vital federal assistance, and provides federal guardianship support for grandparents and other relatives who want to provide a permanent home for the children they are raising.

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Health Topics
Aug 8, 2006

Improvement Needed in Genetic Testing Oversight

In recent months many health-related organizations have joined in calling on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to end years of delay in assuring the safety and accuracy of genetic testing. In separate letters to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, members of Genetic Alliance and a coalition of women’s health groups urged the agency to issue a proposed rule to create a genetic testing specialty under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988.

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Feb 11, 2009

Improving the Food Safety System

Erik Olson, director of chemical and food safety programs with Pew Health & Human Services Policy, issued the following statement at today’s House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing on the recent peanut-related salmonella outbreak.

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Food Hazards
Mar 17, 2009

It's Not Chicken Feed: Antibiotic resistance adds billions to health care costs

To reform health care we need to reduce health care costs, and that includes reducing the drug-resistant diseases that cost our country billions. This means stopping the misuse of the antibiotics our families rely on

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Antibiotics in Food Animal Production
Apr 29, 2009

J. Mark Iwry Joins Treasury as Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy

The Retirement Security Project announced today that J. Mark Iwry, Principal of The Retirement Security Project, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and former Treasury Department official, has been appointed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as Senior Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy, effective April 27, 2009.

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Feb 27, 2008

Kids Are Waiting Urges Congress to Reform Foster Care Financing

On Capitol Hill today, the youth and parents most impacted by the nation's foster care system joined child welfare advocates and others at a Congressional hearing to emphasize that now is the time for federal foster care reform. Convened by the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the hearing featured testimony by Hope Cooper of the national Kids Are Waiting campaign, a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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Health Topics
Jun 27, 2013

Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project Applauds USDA for Finalizing Snack Standards for Schools

Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project, issued the following statement regarding the interim final rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, setting nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold in U.S. schools.

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School Food
Dec 15, 2011

Kohl and Grassley to hold hearing on Physician Payments Sunshine Act Implementation

On Thursday, December 15, Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) will convene a hearing entitled, “Parting the Clouds: Implementing the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.”

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Sep 23, 2008

Landmark Foster Care and Adoption Bill Makes Critical Improvements to Nation’s Foster Care System

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act passed by Congress today generates significant improvements to the nation’s child welfare system, making it possible for more children to leave foster care quickly and safely to join permanent families.  This groundbreaking legislation marks the most sweeping Congressional reform of the U.S. foster care system in more than a decade.

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Health Topics
Oct 20, 2010

Landmark Studies on Transit, Energy and Nutrition Policies are Focus of New Grants

The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, today announced nearly $400,000 in grants to four organizations to conduct health impact assessments (HIAs). The assessments will identify and address potential and often overlooked health implications of policy proposals including farm-to-school food legislation, energy development, smart-metering technology for electric utilities and urban transportation plans.

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Health Impact Assessment
Sep 27, 2006

Lax Oversight of Genetic Tests

Better oversight of genetic testing laboratories by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is “critical to ensuring the quality of genetic testing in the United States,” and failure to provide it “poses a risk to the public’s health,” according to a Petition for Rulemaking submitted today to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan by the Genetics and Public Policy Center, Public Citizen, and Genetic Alliance.

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Sep 17, 2008

Likely Voters Want Federal Produce Safety Standards, Deeply Concerned About Broken System

Likely voters, by a 3-to-1 margin, want the federal government to establish new safety standards for the growing, harvesting, processing and distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables even if they increase costs, according to a national survey commissioned by the Produce Safety Project (PSP), an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University. Conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies, the survey found deep discontent - 75% of likely voters -- with the current voluntary system: 36% favor "complete overhaul" and 39% want "significant changes."

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Food Safety
Oct 18, 2011

Los Cargos Ocultos O Inesperados Son Mencionados Como La Razón Principal Por La Cual Los Trabajadores Pobres Cierran Cuentas de Banco

Los "cargos ocultos o inesperados" fueron mencionados como la razón principal por la cual los trabajadores pobres del Gran Los Ángeles, aquellos que tienen empleo pero que incluso así permanecen en pobreza relativa, cerraron cuentas de banco el pasado año, por encima de razones como la pérdida del empleo o la falta de dinero, según una encuesta en hogares predominantemente hispanos y de bajos ingresos dada a conocer por el Safe Banking Opportunities Project (Proyecto Oportunidades para Banca Segura) del Pew Health Group.

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Jun 18, 2008

Majority of Americans Support Legislative Action to Disclose Pharmaceutical Company Gifts to Physicians

A majority of Americans (64%) say that it is important to know their physician’s financial ties to pharmaceutical companies and 68% would support legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to disclose gifts to doctors, according to the results of a new survey released today by the Prescription Project.

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Conflicts of Interest
Nov 12, 2009

Majority of Voters Support New Government Oversight of Food, Pew Commissioned Poll Finds

New polls of voters in selected states – Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Wyoming – show overwhelming support for measures that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authority to ensure the food Americans eat does not make them sick, according to a new poll commissioned by the Pew Health Group and conducted by a respected bipartisan team of pollsters at Hart Research (Democratic) and Public Opinion Strategies (Republican).

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Food Hazards
Nov 12, 2009

Make Our Food Safe for the Holidays

Over the next several weeks, the U.S. Senate has an historic opportunity to take a major step toward improving food safety for all Americans.

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Food Hazards
Apr 3, 2008

Marketing of Unproven Genetic Tests a Threat to Public Health

No mechanism currently exists to ensure that genetic tests are supported by adequate evidence before they go to market, or that marketing claims are truthful and not misleading, according to a policy analysis to be published April 4 in Science. Misleading claims about genetic tests may lead health-care providers and patients to make inappropriate decisions about which tests to take and how to use genetic tests that have potential for profound medical consequences, the authors argue.

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Oct 29, 2008

McCain and Obama Agree on an Important Policy Proposal – The Retirement Security Project's Automatic IRA

In the midst of a campaign with opposing views on most aspects of domestic policy, the presidential candidates have now both endorsed the Automatic IRA. 

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Jun 16, 2009

Medical Students, Pew Find Improvement in Medical School Pharmaceutical Conflict-of-Interest Policies, But Many Lag

Over one-fifth of U.S. medical schools improved their conflict-of-interest rules in the past year, yet dozens of others lag behind according to the 2009 American Medical Student Association (AMSA) PharmFree Scorecard, released today.

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Conflicts of Interest
May 3, 2011

Moms Across America Uniting to Preserve Effectiveness of Antibiotics

The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming today launched "Moms for Antibiotic Awareness," a grassroots movement of moms working to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for their children and families.

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Antibiotics in Food Animal Production
Jan 15, 2009

Nanotech Safety High on Congress’ Priority List

The House Science and Technology Committee introduced legislation today that highlights the growing attention on Capitol Hill to the need to strengthen federal efforts to learn more about the potential environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks posed by engineered nanomaterials. Nanotechnology is an emerging technology that promises to usher in the next Industrial Revolution and is the focus of an annual $1.5 billion federal research investment.

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Health Topics
Aug 25, 2009

Nanotech-Enabled Consumer Products Top the 1,000 Mark

Over 1,000 nanotechnology-enabled products have been made available to consumers around the world, according to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN). The most recent update to the group’s three-and-a-half-year-old inventory reflects the increasing use of the tiny particles in everything from conventional products like non-stick cookware and lighter, stronger tennis racquets, to more unique items such as wearable sensors that monitor posture.

 

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Health Topics
Sep 29, 2009

Nanotechnology and Synthetic Biology: What Does the American Public Think?

Nanotechnology and synthetic biology continue to develop as two of the most exciting areas of scientific discovery, but research has shown that the public is almost completely unaware of the science and its applications. A groundbreaking poll of 1,001 U.S. adults conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) found 90 percent of Americans think that the public should be better informed about the development of cutting-edge technologies.

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Health Topics
Feb 5, 2009

Nanotechnology and the Consumer

As part of a 6-DVD lecture series produced by the Museum of Science, Boston, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies director David Rejeski covers the topic of nanotechnology in consumer products.  This set, Talking Nano, provides an excellent overview of nanotechnology.

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Health Topics