Psoriasis Cure Now,
a nonprofit patient advocacy group, responded to a startling new study
showing an association between severe psoriasis and a significantly
increased risk of death, by renewing calls for more psoriasis research. The
study, by a team of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
researchers, found patients with severe psoriasis have a 50 percent
increased risk of mortality as compared to comparable people without
psoriasis. In sum, the study found women with severe psoriasis died 4.4
years earlier than women without psoriasis, while men with severe psoriasis
died an average of 3.5 years earlier than men without the disease.

“This disturbing new finding is further evidence of the need for
psoriasis to receive its fair share of federal research funding,” said
Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now. “Even as funding for
research on other diseases has doubled, psoriasis research funding has been
stagnant. This study should be a wake-up call for Congress that psoriasis
research funding is not only about their constituents’ health and quality
of life but may literally be a life and death matter. One dollar per
patient per year is not enough.”

The study was just published in the December issue of the Archives of
Dermatology. For more information, visit the Psoriasis Cure Now website at
psoriasis-cure-now.

Psoriasis Cure Now
psoriasis-cure-now Continue reading →

Doctors know that an impaired sense of smell is an early indicator of Parkinson’s Disease.

Now they want to know if a smell test can help determine if people with no symptoms eventually develop the disease.

“The analogy would be like diagnosing coronary artery disease before the heart attack,” says Dr. Kapil Sethi, director of the Movement Disorders Program at the Medical College of Georgia and a lead investigator the Parkinson’s Associated Risk Syndrome Study. “With Parkinson’s, we are dependent on the presence of motor symptoms like tremors, stiffness and slowness in order to diagnose it. By that time you have lost 50 to 60 percent of your dopaminergic cells, which make dopamine and are key to movement control. The question becomes, is there a window between when you had non-motor symptoms like loss of smell and when you begin to demonstrate clinical motor symptoms?”

Dr. Sethi and researchers at 17 other sites across the country will recruit 15,000 close relatives of Parkinson’s patients as part of the study, which is being led by the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders and the University of Pennsylvania.

“By testing those with a family history of the disease, we have an enriched population,” he says. “We already know that those people are more at risk. To enrich the sample even further, we’ll test their sense of smell. It’s not just the essence of a sense of smell that is different in these people. It’s a quantitative decrease in their ability to distinguish odors.”

Patients will be given the University of Pennsylvania’s Smell Identification Test, which tests for 40 common odors and has been used to detect the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders.

People with a normal sense of smell who take the test can usually identify around 35 odors correctly. Parkinson’s patients typically can only identify 20 or less.

The study will also help determine if the smell test can also predict who will get Parkinson’s.

“We believe that if you’re a person who is going to develop Parkinson’s, you’ll also score lower than others,” Dr. Sethi says.

Based on the results of the smell test, study participants will be divided into two groups – those with a normal sense of smell and those without. Both groups will undergo functional neuroimaging analyses at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders in New Haven. Functional neuroimaging can identify changes in brain activity associated with Parkinson’s.

Both also will be clinically examined by a movement disorder specialist and followed for three to five years.

“We believe that a proportion of those who have the deteriorated sense of smell will develop Parkinson’s over the next two or three years,” Dr. Sethi says.

Study participants also will be asked about other common symptoms of the disease that may be present prior to the telltale motor symptoms. For example, people with Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases often suffer from a sleep disorder called REM Behavior Disorder, which causes them to act out their dreams.

“While most people are paralyzed when they dream so they can’t hurt themselves or others, people with Parkinson’s are not,” Dr. Sethi says. “They yell, scream and kick. No one knows why, but half of the people who have this sleep disorder will develop Parkinson’s or a similar disease.”

Questions about excessive daytime sleepiness and anxiety and constipation – other pre-symptoms of Parkinson’s – also will be asked.

“The goal is to give someone a degree of risk based on one or multiple factors,” Dr. Sethi says. “We don’t know specific numbers now, but hopefully, in the future, we will be able to tell people who have a deteriorated sense of smell and the sleep disorder specifically how much their risk goes up.”

The long-term goal, he says, is to develop prevention strategies once risk is established.

###

The study is open to those 50 or older who do not have Parkinson’s but have a mother, father, child or sibling with the disease.

Source: Jennifer Hilliard

Medical College of Georgia Continue reading →

Researchers seeking to understand the causes of a rare genetic lysosomal storage disease, Sanfilippo syndrome type B, were surprised to find protein aggregates, known as neurofibrillary tangles, that are usually seen in Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, according to a study published May 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The discovery, in a study conducted at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), means that the childhood dementia often seen in lysosomal storage diseases may have mechanisms similar to those found in Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related dementias, which are characterized by an abnormal accumulation of the protein, P-tau.

The scientists also said these findings mean those suffering from these rare disorders could one day benefit from the abundance of research underway for the growing numbers of Alzheimer’s patients.

“We were trying to determine what in the cellular environment makes certain brain regions more vulnerable to neurodegeneration, and we were surprised to find the presence of a protein, P-tau, and the corresponding aggregates similar to neurofibrillary tangles we see in Alzheimer’s patients,” said Stanislav L. Karsten, PhD, a corresponding author of the study and a LA BioMed investigator. “With the increasing incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, we expect to see new drugs developed to prevent these neurofibrillary tangles or dissolve them. Our findings suggest those treatments could also benefit patients with this rare genetic disorder, Sanfilippo syndrome.”

Sanfilippo syndrome, also known as MPS III, occurs in approximately one in 70,000 births, causing profound mental retardation, behavior problems and, frequently, death before the age of 20. It is one of nearly 40 lysosomal storage diseases caused by the body’s inability to produce enzymes that break down and recycle materials in cells. Without the enzymes, materials are stored in virtually every cell of the body, causing severe damage over time. There is no treatment for Sanfilippo syndrome.

Alzheimer’s disease affects 2 million to 4 million Americans, and their ranks are expected to grow to as many as 14 million by the middle of the 21st century as the population ages.

Grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Children’s Medical Research Foundation, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and the Alzheimer’s Association funded this research.

The study: “Sanfilippo syndrome type B, a lysosomal storage disease, is also a tauopathy”

Source:
Laura Mecoy

Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) Continue reading →

Trying to get more fiber in your diet? Munching on cookies or tortillas probably doesn’t come to mind. But a Kansas State University researcher is experimenting with ways to add fiber to the foods we love without changing what we like about our favorite snacks.

Sajid Alavi is an assistant professor of grain science and industry at K-State’s College of Agriculture. His expertise is in extrusion processing, which is used to make products from cheese puffs to pet food. Alavi is researching how this process can be used to make fiber-enriched flour taste like the kind used in most cookies and tortillas so that manufacturers can make a more healthful snacking alternative that consumers want to eat.

Alavi notes the increasing problem of obesity and how it can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other ailments.

“That’s where there’s a big push for whole grains and fiber,” he said. “There’s interest in making healthier foods.”

Funded by a one-year, $30,000 grant from the Kansas Wheat Commission, Alavi and researchers created flour enriched with varying levels of bran. They mixed the bran-enriched wheat flour with water using a standing mixer like the one cooks may use at home, and they let the dough sit overnight. The hydrated flour was then sent through a machine called an extrusion processor. The processor uses a series of rotating screws and heated barrels to precook the flour before it is pushed out of the end. After ropes of the dough come out, they are taken to a drying oven or a freeze dryer, the latter of which Alavi said produced higher-quality flour. Then the dried ropes were ground back into flour, ready to use for baking.

“The more fiber you add, the more the dough quality deteriorates,” Alavi said. “We’re hoping this process will increase some of the properties of the flour. The foods might have a better physical quality.”

The researchers worked with the bakery science lab at K-State’s department of grain science and industry to produce cookies and tortillas made with bran-enriched flour that had been precooked using extrusion processing, and those that had bran-enriched flour that wasn’t precooked. The team then worked with K-State’s sensory analysis team to conduct taste tests. Subjects were offered vouchers for K-State’s Call Hall ice cream in exchange for tasting and comparing the regular snacks and their bran-enriched counterparts.

The snackers reported liking cookies and tortillas made with enriched bran, whether precooked or not. However, the precooked flour did have an increased level of soluble dietary fiber — the kind the body can absorb readily.

Alavi said researchers didn’t necessarily get better properties with extruded flour. In the future, he said researchers could look at extruding the bran separately from the flour.

Alavi said snack food producers may be able to use this precooking method to add fruits and vegetables to snack foods.

“With fruit- and vegetable-based snacks, it’s still hard to process the dough, so you really don’t see those kinds of products out there,” he said.

The research was carried out by Alavi’s graduate student, Hyma Gajula, a master’s student in grain science. Other K-Staters contributing to the research include Koushik Adhikari, assistant professor of human nutrition; Tom Herald, professor of food science; and Ron Madl, director of K-State’s Bioprocessing and Industrial Value Added Program.

Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506-0117
United States
k-state.edu Continue reading →

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation’s oldest and largest, independent association for physicians-in-training, applauds the pharmaceutical industry for implementing a voluntary ban on gifts to physicians, which began on January 1, 2009. Enacted by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the ban will prohibit pens, coffee mugs and other branded gifts. AMSA has called for a comprehensive ban on gifts and all marketing efforts to medical professionals since 2002, when it initiated the PharmFree campaign (www.pharmfree). AMSA’s PharmFree campaign has educated and trained thousands of medical students across the country to interact professionally and ethically with the pharmaceutical industry. “Banning gifts from the drug companies is a good first step,” says Dr. Brian Hurley, AMSA’s national president. “There is no role for marketing masquerading as education when our patients’ lives are at stake.”

Home to the next generation of physicians, AMSA also calls for federal regulations to govern the pharmaceutical industry’s interactions with medical institutions. Specifically, AMSA supports passage of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act of 2008 (S.2029), which would require disclosure of payments to physicians by the pharmaceutical industry.

“Given that pharmaceutical companies have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders, and given that they are a business that must take profits into consideration, the pharmaceutical industry cannot be expected to self-regulate,” continues Hurley. “Congress must fight to ensure the quality of medical education, which necessitates non-biased, evidence-based information about medications and medical devices. This is the only way to produce a medical system that can provide quality, affordable patient care for everyone.”

AMSA’s PharmFree campaign encourages medical schools and academic medical centers to develop policies that limit the access of pharmaceutical company representatives to campuses and hospitals and to prohibit medical students and physicians from accepting gifts of any kind from these representatives. In June 2008, AMSA released its PharmFree Scorecard (www.amsascorecard), a comprehensive ranking of conflict-of-interest policies across the country, as well as an in-depth, school-by-school look at policies that govern industry interaction with medical school faculty and trainees.

About the American Medical Student Association

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), with more than a half-century history of medical student activism, is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. With more than 67,000 members, including medical and premedical students, residents and practicing physicians, AMSA is committed to improving medical training as well as advancing the profession of medicine. AMSA focuses on four strategic priorities, including advocating for quality, affordable health care for all, global health equity, enriching medicine through diversity and professional integrity, development and student well being. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at amsa. Continue reading →

Use of prescription drugs in the U.S. declined in 2008 — the first such decrease in a decade — but total spending on such treatments increased by 3.3%, according to a report released on Wednesday by Medco Health Solutions, the AP/Washington Post reports. The report attributed the decline in sales to fewer new drugs being introduced in 2008, popular medications becoming available as non-prescriptions and concerns about certain drugs’ safety.

Total spending increased largely because of increased use of “specialty” medications for chronic and complicated illnesses, which often are more costly and sometimes require special considerations for storage or delivery to patients, according to the AP/Post. Profits on specialty drugs in 2008 increased by about 16%. The average costs for other brand-name drugs increased by more than 8% in 2008, the largest increase in five years. According to the report, spending on prescription drugs would have been higher but less costly generic medications accounted for 64% of all prescriptions in 2008.

The report predicted that prescription drug use in the U.S. will increase by no more than 1% in 2009 and 2010. However, price increases are expected to contribute to an increase in total spending of 3% to 5% in 2009 and 4% to 6% in 2010 (Seaman, AP/Washington Post, 5/13).

Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Continue reading →

Try this quick National Stroke Awareness Month quiz. Knowing the risk factors for a stroke may save your life.

1. Is your blood pressure more than 135/85? High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke.

2. Do you have atrial fibrillation?

3. Do you smoke cigarettes?

4. Do you drink alcohol beyond moderation?

5. Is your cholesterol high?

6. Do you have diabetes? Is it under control?

7. Do you exercise for 30 minutes a day?

8. Do you enjoy a low sodium (salt) diet? This can lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk for stroke.

9. Do you have circulation problems?

“Being over age 55 and having a family history of stroke are additional risk factors,” said Dr. Anil Hingorani, a member of the Society for Vascular Surgery®. “Lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise can positively impact your vascular health and reduce the chance of having a stroke.”

Build-up of plaque in the carotid artery in the neck is a major cause of stroke. As a vascular surgeon, Dr. Hingorani has witnessed first-hand the effects of stroke, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2010 National Vital Statistics Report. In 2008, 133,750 people died from stroke.

“Every 40 seconds, an American suffers a stroke,” said Dr. Hingorani. “Strokes occur suddenly and without warning. Two million brain cells die every minute during a stroke. Eighty percent of strokes are preventable through risk factor management.”

The American Stroke Association estimated that Americans spent $73.7 billion for stroke-related medical costs and disability in 2010. This includes physical, occupational, speech language, and recreational therapy.

If you witness someone with the following signs of a stroke, call 911 immediately.

- Numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body

- Confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech

- Trouble seeing in one or both eyes

- Trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination

- Severe headache with no known cause.

Source:

Society for Vascular Surgery Continue reading →

Autism affects 1 in 150 children today, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. Despite its widespread effect, autism is not well understood and there are no objective medical tests to diagnose it. Recently, University of Missouri researchers have developed a pupil response test that is 92.5 percent accurate in separating children with autism from those with typical development. In the study, MU scientists found that children with autism have slower pupil responses to light change.

“No comprehensive study has been conducted previously to evaluate the pupils’ responses to light change, or PLR, in children with autism,” said Gang Yao, associate professor of biological engineering in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the College of Engineering. “In this study, we used a short light stimulus to induce pupil light reflexes in children under both dark and bright conditions. We found that children with autism showed significant differences in several PLR parameters compared to those with typical development.”

In the study, scientists used a computerized binocular infrared device, which eye doctors normally use for vision tests, to measure how pupils react to a 100-millisecond flash light. A pupil reaction test reveals potential neurological disorders in areas of the brain that autism might affect. The results showed that pupils of children diagnosed with autism were significantly slower to respond than those of a control group.

“There are several potential mechanisms currently under study,” Yao said. “If these results are successfully validated in a larger population, PLR response might be developed into a biomarker that could have clinical implications in early screening for risks of autism. Studies have shown that early intervention will improve these children’s developmental outcome.”

Yao’s study, completed with Xiaofei Fan, post-doctoral fellow at MU, Judith Miles, professor and William S. Thompson Endowed Chair in Child Health, and Nicole Takahashi, senior research specialist at MU’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurological Disorders, has been published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. In October, the scientists received a grant from the National Institutes of Health for the next phase. For this study, the researchers hope to amplify the earlier study’s measurements and investigate any correlation between PLR and several other medical conditions that could be associated with autism.

Source: Christian Basi

University of Missouri-Columbia Continue reading →

CMS and the Hospital Quality Alliance on Thursday posted on the Hospital Compare Web site data that provide a broad comparison of mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure in hospital patients, the Baltimore Sun reports (Roylance, Baltimore Sun, 6/22).

According to the New York Times, the federal government in the 1990s ended the release of such data, which “were widely criticized as unfair, because government officials did little to adjust for the relative health of the patients being counted.” However, the Bush administration considers the release of such data “an essential part of keeping much of the American health care system in private hands and giving consumers information about how they perform,” the Times reports.

In response to some past criticism of the data, researchers from Yale University and Harvard University worked with CMS to develop a detailed statistical analysis to adjust for the relative health and medical histories of hospital patients, according to Yale medical professor Harlan Krumholz (Harris, New York Times, 6/22).

Web Site Data
The Hospital Compare Web site includes data on the 30-day mortality rates for heart attack or heart failure among Medicare beneficiaries treated at more than 4,000 hospitals nationwide from July 2005 to June 2006. According to the Web site, 16.4% of heart attack patients nationwide died within 30 days of their hospital admission, and mortality rates at individual hospitals ranged from 10.8% to 24%. The Web site does not provide specific data on mortality rates for heart attack for individual hospitals but indicates that seven facilities had rates lower than the national average, 17 had rates higher than the national average and the remainder had rates near the national average.

About 11.1% of heart failure patients nationwide died within 30 days of their hospital admission, and morality rates at individual hospitals ranged from 6.7% to 17.3%, according to the Web site. The Web site also does not provide specific data on mortality rates for heart failure for individual hospitals but indicates that 35 facilities had rates lower than the national average, 38 had rates higher than the national average and the remainder had rates near the national average (Baltimore Sun, 6/22).

CMS officials said that they informed hospitals of the data included on the Web site and provided them with additional data compiled by the agency. CMS said that agency quality improvement officials will work with some hospitals to improve their quality of care (Freking, AP/Houston Chronicle, 6/22).

HHS, HQA Member Comments
“The basic concept is to promote quality and to give consumers information they can use to make their decisions in health care,” Michael Rapp, CMS director of quality measurement, said (Sternberg, USA Today, 6/22). HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said, “What we’re seeing today is a glimpse of what’s possible.” He added that CMS will release more data on quality of care to the public in the next few years (Graham, Chicago Tribune, 6/22). Acting CMS Deputy Administrator Herb Kuhn said, “You will see hospitals in the middle category that probably should be in the worst category. But we thought this was the best way to go the first time out” (Baltimore Sun, 6/22). Kuhn added that the release of the data “really wasn’t an attempt to embarrass hospitals in any way, shape or form” (AP/Houston Chronicle, 6/22).

Richard Umbdenstock — president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, a member of HQA — said that hospital trade associations “believe that patients should have the information they need to make choices” (New York Times, 6/22). Umbdenstock said that “equally important is sharing this data with hospitals so physicians and nurses” can “review this information and improve how they deliver care” (CQ HealthBeat, 6/21).

Jack Lewin — CEO of the American College of Cardiology, which supports the Web site — said, “We think this is a process that needs to happen,” adding, “On the other side, there will be unhappy hospitals that are disappointed in their performance” (USA Today, 6/22).

Reaction
Officials for the 42 hospitals with heart attack or heart failure mortality rates that exceeded the national average said “either that they were shocked by the numbers or refused to comment at all,” the Times reports. Brian D’Arcy — chief medical officer at the Catholic Health System of Western New York, which operates Kenmore Mercy Hospital, one of those facilities — said, “We were stunned when this issue was raised with us.” D’Arcy said, “We believe it’s a statistical anomaly related to hospice-type patients.” He added that Kenmore reviewed the care provided to each of the patients and determined that they received appropriate treatment.

Steven Nissen, chair of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, said that those hospitals “need to look at their systems, processes and education and find out how to get better.” Nissen added, “If that’s what comes out of all this, that’s a huge benefit.” However, Michael Weber, a medical professor at the State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine, said, “I’m a bit concerned that people might not go to the appropriate hospital and to one farther away and arrive too late to be adequately helped.”

Peter Lee, CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health, said, “Without showing true differentiation among most hospitals, we aren’t serving consumers, purchasers or even the hospitals themselves” (New York Times, 6/22). Sidney Wolfe, director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen, said that the Web site is “depriving most people in the country of information that could be useful” because of the large number of hospitals considered in the “great unwashed middle” (Baltimore Sun, 6/22).

Kim Bateman, a vice president at HealthInsight, said, “They were trying to be conservative so they wouldn’t hurt (hospitals) by their own mistakes,” adding, “If over time we don’t cut with a sharper knife, we’re going to lose (hospital officials’) attention” (May, Salt Lake Tribune, 6/22).

Broadcast Coverage

ABC’s “World News” on Thursday reported on the Web site. The segment includes comments from Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of New York-Presbyterian Hospital; Krumholz; Paul Ginsburg of the Center for Studying Health System Change; and hospital patients (Snow, “World News,” ABC, 6/21). A video excerpt of the segment is available online. Expanded ABC News coverage is available online.

CBS’ “Evening News” on Wednesday also reported on the Web site. The segment includes comments from Jim Conway of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, William Abdu of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and hospital patients (Andrews, “Evening News,” CBS, 6/20). Video of the segment and expanded CBS News coverage are available online.

“Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Continue reading →

FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach in a May 5 letter to Congress requested an additional $275 million in funding to ensure the safety of imported food, prescription drugs and medical devices, the New York Times reports.

According to the Times, von Eschenbach was responding to a May 1 letter from Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies, requesting information on the amount of additional funding FDA would need “to protect the public’s health.” In that letter, Specter wrote by hand in the margin, “Andy, I know the situation is extreme. I want to get you financial help now,” the Times reports.

Von Eschenbach wrote that FDA could absorb an additional $275 million within the next few months. Von Eschenbach last month at a Senate hearing said he did not think the agency would in one year be able to absorb $375 million in additional funding included in FDA’s 2009 allocated budget. The letter also outlined the expenses for a number of planned initiatives, such as opening new agency offices abroad, increasing the number of inspections and establishing new databases to track drug hazards.

According to the Times, von Eschenbach’s funding request “mirrors” a measure introduced by appropriations subcommittee chair Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) last week as part of an emergency supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war (Harris, New York Times, 5/14). Kohl’s measure included $275 million for FDA — $125 million for food safety; $100 million for medication and medical device safety; $40 million to modernize FDA science and the agency work force; and $10 million to upgrade FDA facilities and laboratories (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/8).

Letter Details
In his letter, von Eschenbach wrote that he was offering the spending plan “without regard to the competing priorities that the agency, the president and their advisers must consider as budget submissions to the Congress are developed.” According to the Times, the letter request “surprised agency observers” and could be a “sign of the president’s waning influence” in the final months of his term. William Hubbard, a former deputy FDA commissioner, said, “In 30 years at the agency, I never saw anything like this happen before.”

Comments
FDA spokesperson Julie Zawisza said, “These resources will accelerate the changes required for FDA to protect and promote the health of all Americans in a rapidly changing world that poses new, emerging threats to the safety of food and medical products.”

Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said, “We are one step closer to an FDA that has the resources to serve the needs of American consumers.”

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.), who has proposed drug safety draft legislation, said he was curious about “why the commissioner is beginning to finally recognize what has been painfully obvious to everyone else” (New York Times, 5/14).

Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Continue reading →