Featured Issue Briefs
The Battle on the Home Front: Jonathan Gadsden's Story
Marine Lance Corporal's story reflects the growing need for new antibiotics that can treat dangerous diseases, against which most drugs are useless. Read More
Facilitating Medical Device Innovation: De Novo Reform
The de novo process -- which requests lower-risk reclassification of medical devices and entry into the marketplace -- as it exists now is not achieving its purpose and has instead added unnecessary and time-consuming requirements. Read More
Food Products Recalled by FDA
Since President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act into law, at least 149 FDA-regulated food products have been recalled due to potential pathogenic contamination. Read More
More Issue Briefs
| Date | Issue Briefs | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 2012 |
Pew Health Group comments on the implementation of Section 6002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act"The Pew Health Group of The Pew Charitable Trusts welcomes the opportunity to submit comments regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' ("CMS") proposed rule for Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Programs; Transparency Reports and Reporting of Physician Ownership or Interests." More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Nov 8, 2012 |
Pew Comments to the FDA Regarding the Unique Device Identification SystemPew’s Medical Device Initiative, along with the American Heart Association and Trust for America’s Health, submitted comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its proposed rule for a unique device identification (UDI) system for medical devices. Once implemented by the FDA and utilized by healthcare providers, the UDI system will be the cornerstone for significant improvements in postmarketing surveillance of medical devices. More info |
Drugs and Devices at the FDA |
| Apr 4, 2013 |
Pew Comments on Draft Recommendations for Meaningful Use, Stage 3The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted comments on preliminary recommendations regarding Stage 3 meaningful use objectives and standards for electronic health records (EHRs) to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. These comments follow remarks at recent meetings of the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee. More info |
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| Aug 3, 2012 |
Pew Comments on Draft Guidance for Industry Regarding Nanotechnology in FoodThe Food Additives Project of the Pew Health Group strongly agrees with the FDA's draft decision to deny "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) status to nanoengineered chemicals and review them as food additives. However, they list their concerns with certain aspects of the document and question the agency's claim that it has not reviewed GRAS notifications sanctioning the use of nanoengineered chemicals. More info |
Food Additives |
| Apr 9, 2013 |
Pew Comments on Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services' Information Collection Activities Draft GuidanceThe Pew Charitable Trusts appreciates this opportunity to submit comments to CMS's "Information Collection Activities" draft guidance. We suggest that both the research and non-research payment templates be modified in order to make it easier for consumers to identify which drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies are associated with particular transfers of value. More info |
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| Nov 21, 2012 |
Pew Comments on Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ''Antimicrobial Animal Drug Sales and Distribution Reporting''The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming submitted a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, urging the FDA to strengthen regulations pertaining to record-keeping and public reporting of antibiotic use in food animal production. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Jun 7, 2013 |
Pew Comment Letter to the Senate HELP Committee on Compounding LegislationPew sent a comment letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the Pharmaceutical Compounding Quality and Accountability Act. This bill takes steps toward clarifying state and federal oversight of compounding, including an important increase in FDA supervision of certain activities—specifically, the compounding of sterile medicines that are shipped interstate. More info |
Drug Manufacturing and Distribution, Drug Safety |
| Aug 23, 2012 |
Pew Biomedical Scholar Profile: Sohini RamachandranSohini Ramachandran, a population geneticist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, received two high-profile awards this year. In June, she was named a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences by the Pew Charitable Trusts, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and in February, she received a fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York. She plans to use the grants to distinguish herself in a fast-moving field. More info |
Biomedical Research |
| Jul 20, 2012 |
Pew Asks FDA to Strengthen Guidelines on Antibiotic Use in Food AnimalsPew's Human Health and Industrial Farming team has applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for issuing Guide 209. However, they would like to see additional strengthening measures, which can help begin the process of making progress toward reducing the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in people. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Jul 20, 2012 |
Pew Asks FDA to Close Loopholes in New Guidelines to Protect Antibiotics From OverusePew's Laura Rogers, program director of the Human Health and Industrial Farming initiative, commended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for issuing Draft Guidance 213 for industry on antibiotics in animal feed and water and urged the agency to consider improvements that would better protect public health. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Jan 2, 2012 |
Patient Story: Jamel Sawyer: A Young Man Fights MRSAOne of the most notorious multidrug-resistant superbugs, MRSA is responsible for an estimated 19,000 deaths and 360,000 hospitalizations each year in this country. Jamel’s story illustrates the twin dangers presented by emerging multidrug-resistant bacterial infections and the waning effectiveness and availability of drugs to treat them. More info |
Antibiotic Innovation |
| Jul 2, 2007 |
Overview of Child Welfare Services in Washington StateCompared to other states, child welfare is high on the list of legislative priorities in Washington. This high level of legislative activity can be attributed in part to a number of recent events that are briefly described below. In addition, the legislature, particularly the House, has a number of experienced champions of children's issues, including Rep. Ruth Kagi, chair of the House Early Learning and Children's Services Committee, and Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, chair of the House Human Services Committee, among others. More info |
Health Topics |
| Sep 3, 2007 |
Overview of Child Welfare Services in Tennessee StateTennessee's child welfare system has undergone dramatic changes over the past few years. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, child welfare in Tennessee was under-funded and fragmented among six state agencies that failed to communicate with one another or coordinate their efforts. In 1996, a single state agency, the Department of Children's Services (DCS) was created by executive order to house child welfare and juvenile justice services. In 2000, Children's Rights, a national non-profit that advocates for children in foster care, filed a class action lawsuit, claiming over-utilization of emergency shelters and large group facilities, untrained caseworkers, high levels of placement instability, inadequate efforts to achieve permanency, inadequate educational services and disparate treatment of African-American children in foster care. More info |
Health Topics |
| Jan 1, 2008 |
Overview of Child Welfare Services in Ohio StateOhio's child welfare system is state-supervised and county-administered. A number of recent developments and converging trends may have a significant impact on child welfare financing in Ohio. More info |
Health Topics |
| Dec 6, 2007 |
Overview of Child Welfare Services in MontanaChild welfare services in Montana are administered by Child and Family Services Division (CFSD) within the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Recent events and initiatives of note are the federal CFSR in 2002 and resulting PIP, completed successfully in 2006, and a study of the child welfare system in the summer of 2006 by the legislative Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee. Both of these events have focused attention on child welfare in Montana. More info |
Health Topics |
| Oct 1, 2007 |
Overview of Child Welfare Services in Michigan StateMichigan is experiencing severe economic and fiscal problems due primarily to a downturn in the automobile industry, resulting in a budget deficit of approximately $856.4 million at the end of the state's 2007 fiscal year (September 30). Because of these issues, many of the state's budget bills are still being debated as of the date of this memo. The human services budget bill, SB 232, was passed by the Senate on August 22, 2007. The House passed an amended version of the bill on September 6, 2007. The bill is currently in conference committee. This memo will summarize those provisions in the bills that are relevant to reform of federal child welfare financing. When a budget is finally approved and signed by the Governor, this memo will be updated. More info |
Health Topics |
| Jul 14, 2010 |
Official Text: Hearing on Antibiotic Resistance and the use of Antibiotics in Animal AgricultureThe CDC lists control over infectious disease as one of its top 10 great public health achievements of the last century, and antimicrobials are crucial to that accomplishment. And yet we must collectively be alarmed that we are undermining the power of antibiotics by failing to use them judiciously. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Jul 17, 2012 |
Obama needs to release draft food safety rules, say victims and advocacy groupsThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one in six Americans (48 million people) suffer from a foodborne illness each year, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Americans will continue to get sick and even die from foodborne disease as your Administration continues to hold up the food safety rules. In fact, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) essentially ensured such an outcome last week in a letter to food industry representatives. In it, the FDA said that until final rules are issued, the agency would not enforce the FSMA requirements that food processors adopt prevention-based protections, and that importers assure the safety of the food products they send to the United States. More info |
School Food, Food Hazards |
| Dec 15, 2008 |
Non-physician Prescribers and Pharmaceutical Industry InteractionsIndustry marketing to non-physician prescribers has increased markedly in recent years to roughly 20 million detail visits in 2006, a 20% increase over 2004. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Apr 30, 2009 |
No Economic Advantage to Industrialized Pork ProductionIn October 2008, a panel formed to conduct a comprehensive, fact-based examination of key aspects of the farm animal industry. The report found that the current industrial method of raising pigs for food carries no economic advantage over more natural pig farming. The researchers determined that when the costs to society and communities are taken into account – particularly the costs of waste treatment - industrial animal production actually carries a higher price tag. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Sep 7, 2011 |
New Ad: The Facts are ClearHundreds of scientific studies conducted over four decades have shown that feeding low doses of antibiotics to healthy food animals leads to drug-resistant infections in people. In fact, America’s leading medical, scientific and public health organizations have been warning of the danger for years. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Nov 16, 2010 |
Nearly 200,000 Tell FDA to Save AntibioticsNearly 200,000 letters were recently submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responding to the agency’s request for comments on rules governing the use of antibiotics on industrial farms. These letters made it clear to the FDA that: |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Sep 20, 2011 |
National Headlines Reporting on the Need for New, Lifesaving AntibioticsNational and international headlines warn that multidrug-resistant superbugs are on the rise and the pipeline of new antibiotics is running dry. More info |
Antibiotic Innovation |
| Apr 8, 2013 |
Multiple Organizations - Including Pew - Support DATA ActOn behalf of the undersigned organizations representing medical, public health, scientific, agricultural, environmental, animal protection, and other organizations, we urge you to include H.R. 820, the Delivering Antimicrobial Transparency in Animals (DATA) Act, as part of the final Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA). This legislation provides a reasonable, common-sense approach to better understanding antibiotic use in agriculture. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Apr 3, 2012 |
MRSA: A Deadly Pathogen with Fewer and Fewer Treatment OptionsStaphylococcus aureus, or staph, is a common bacterium that exists in our environment and our bodies. Most of the time it does no harm. Sometimes, however, it can cause infection and require treatment. MRSA refers to strains of S. aureus that are resistant to the antibiotic methicillin and a host of other drugs used to treat infection. More info |
Food Safety, Antibiotic Innovation |
