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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2009 |
Regulatory Comment on Credit CARD Act Reasonable and Proportional RuleThe Pew Safe Credit Cards Project submitted comments to the Federal Reserve Board in regard to rulemaking under the Credit CARD Act of 2009. These comments focused specifically on the law’s requirement that penalty fees and charges must be reasonable and proportional to related cardholder omissions or violations. More info |
Credit Cards |
| May 20, 2009 |
Curing Credit Card PenaltiesCongress is set to enact new legislation that will make credit cards safer and more fair for consumers. As lawmakers negotiate final details before President Obama can sign the bill, new analysis from the Pew Health Group highlights the importance of a safeguard found only in the Senate’s version of the law. More info |
Credit Cards |
| Oct 3, 2008 |
Safe Credit Card Project Regulatory Comment:In October 2008, the Pew Safe Credit Cards Project shared comments (PDF) based on its recent work on credit cards with the Federal Reserve. Select findings from the project—including information on credit card penalty re-pricing and analysis of credit cards in the market—were included. More info |
Credit Cards |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
Getting with the ProgramThis report finds that nearly one in 10 community college students in the U.S. can’t get a federal loan if they need one because their schools choose not to participate in the federal loan programs. More info |
Consumer Financial Security |
| Dec 1, 2008 |
Defaulting on the Dream:ArizonaOne in 18 homeowners in Arizona is estimated to be in foreclosure by the end of 2010, as a result of a subprime-related loan. Years of easily accessible credit and relatively low home prices that facilitated homeownership in the state have ended, leaving in their wake stricter lending terms and stagnating home appreciation. More info |
Consumer Financial Security |
| Apr 17, 2008 |
DeniedAn issue brief on the lack of access to federal loans by community college students. If you need to take out a loan for college, it is tough to find a better deal than a federal student loan. More info |
Consumer Financial Security |
| Oct 3, 2006 |
Subprime LendingHomeownership is the cornerstone of the American middle class and the foundation of the American dream. Low-interest rates, Wall Street demand for mortgage debt securities and new mortgage products have enabled millions of Americans to buy homes for the first time in their lives. More info |
Consumer Financial Security |
| May 30, 2013 |
Letter from Pew to CMS Regarding Physician Payments Sunshine ActPrescription project director Danny Carlat identifies issues with the Physician Payments Sunshine Act requiring further clarification and guidance. Addressing those would ensure that manufacturers can appropriately implement the final rule, and enable consumers to benefit from transparency reports published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Feb 17, 2012 |
Joint Comments with Medtronic to CMS on Sunshine ImplementationThe Pew Charitable Trusts “Pew” and Medtronic, Inc. are pleased to jointly comment on the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed rule implementing Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Feb 17, 2012 |
Comments to CMS on Sunshine ImplementationPew’s main goals in commenting on the proposed rule are to ensure timely implementation and to promote the interest of full transparency by ensuring that data is collected, reported, and published in the most complete, consistent and accurate manner possible. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| 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 |
| Oct 25, 2011 |
Joint Letter to HHS on Sunshine ImplementationDear Secretary Sebelius: We are writing to urge you to fully implement Section 1128G of the Social Security Act, the Physician Payments Sunshine Provision, which was added as Section 6002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Nov 12, 2010 |
Federal Reporting Requirements on Payments to Physicians: Impact on State LawsWith the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010, all U.S. manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics or medical supplies covered under government-funded insurance programs are now required to report certain information to HHS. This fact sheet describes how these federal reporting requirements affect comparable state disclosure laws. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Mar 23, 2010 |
Physician Payments Sunshine Provisions in Health Care ReformThe Physician Payments Sunshine provisions in health care reform legislation require drug and medical device manufacturers to publicly report gifts and payments made to physicians and teaching hospitals. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Mar 22, 2010 |
Legislative text of Physician Payment and other transparency provisions included in H.R. 3590Legislative text of Physician Payment and other transparency provisions included in H.R. 3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009. Passed by the Senate (12/24/09) and the House (3/21/10). More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Jan 28, 2009 |
Pharmaceutical Industry MarketingReports of pharmaceutical and medical device industry marketing expenditures vary - pharmaceutical manufacturers spend billions annually on marketing - detailing, journal advertising, pharmaceutical samples and direct-to-consumer advertising. What can be done to protect patients, control health care costs, and bolster professionalism among physicians? The Prescription Project promotes a range of solutions for consumers, physicians, state and federal policy makers, and public and private payers. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| 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 |
| Nov 7, 2008 |
MedPAC Recommendations - Public Reporting of Physicians' Financial RelationshipsFinal recommendations approved by commission on November 6, 2008 - five recommendations to Congress regarding legislation about disclosure of relationships and gifts and payments made to physicians from pharmaceutical and medical device/supply manufacturers. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Sep 12, 2008 |
Regulating Industry Payments to PhysiciansPhysicians write more than 2 billion prescriptions a year, an average of 7 for every American. Several states and the District of Columbia have enacted so-called “sunshine laws” setting limits on industry payments to physicians and/or requiring disclosure of the payments. Proposed legislation in both the U.S House and Senate would require industry to disclose “transfers of value” to physicians. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Jun 16, 2008 |
Consumer Survey - Disclosure of Industry Payments to PhysiciansA majority of Americans say that it is important to know their physician’s financial ties to pharmaceutical companies and support legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to disclose gifts to doctors. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Feb 5, 2008 |
AAMC: The Scientific Basis of Influence and BiasThe Association of American Medical Colleges recently published "The Scientific Basis of Influence and Bias" based on a symposium held in June 2007 in Washington D.C. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Sep 27, 2010 |
Regulatory Comment: Overdraft Payment Programs and Consumer ProtectionThe Pew Health Group’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project responds to the FDIC’s call for comments on FIL-47-2010, Overdraft Payment Programs and Consumer Protection. The FDIC issued proposed guidance for public comment on how banking institutions it supervises should implement and maintain oversight of automated overdraft programs. More info |
Checking |
| 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 |
| Apr 10, 2013 |
Antibiotics and Industrial Farming 101Each year, tens of thousands of Americans die and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized because of bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic overuse on industrial farms is a big part of the problem. The largest U.S. meat and poultry producers feed antibiotics to healthy animals over much of their lives to make them grow faster and to compensate for the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in which they are bred and slaughtered. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| 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 |
