HealthieRForum

Americans fear obesity but do not see value of a special tax on junk food

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:23:32 +0000

Most say obesity is a serious public health problem but they do not think that a tax on junk food would curb people’s appetite: -57% say obesity is a very serious public health problem -60% oppose a special tax on junk food -72% say a special tax would not encourage more people to lose weight Read more at

Support for healthcare legislation improves as 2010 starts

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:19:14 +0000

Since last month, more Americans favor Congress passing a healthcare legislation this year:

-49% say they would advise their member of Congress to vote for the bill
-46% say they would advocate a vote against the bill; this is 2% lower than December

Read more at Gallup…

CMS and HHS Release New Proposed Rules Governing Health IT

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:54:08 +0000

By Jordan Cohen, Health Reform Watch

Issues surrounding the implementation of health information technology (HIT) have not garnered anywhere near the amount of attention as issues such as the public plan, the intersection of abortion and health insurance, pre-existing condition provisions, etc. There are a variety of reasons for this.

Read more at Health Reform Watch…

Program for Children Has Uncertain Future

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:34:18 +0000

By David M. Herszenhorn, New York Times

As Democratic Congressional leaders work to merge the House and Senate versions of major health care legislation, a big question is what they will do about the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which now provides coverage to more than nine million children and pregnant women and is expected to cover more than 14 million by 2013.

The Senate bill would preserve the program, known as CHIP, and would extend federal financing through 2015, two years past its expiration date under current law. The House bill, by contrast, would end CHIP and redirect the millions of children either to Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for the poor, or to new health insurance exchanges where moderate-income Americans would be able to buy private coverage using new federal subsidies to help offset the cost.

HF Exclusive: From the Floor of the FDA Social Media Hearing

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:22:45 +0000

To expand on our midday post, the Ruder Finn senior staff provides another look at the conversations surrounding adverse events reporting at today’s FDA public hearing on the use of social media by the pharmaceutical industry:

While we discussed the potential pitfalls and challenges that lie ahead in adapting the FDA’s standing adverse events (AEs) reporting guidelines to an online venue, at today’s hearing we also heard about some of the successes of AE reporting in social media communities as well as some recommendations for improving upon existing protocols for reporting – especially for patients.

Most notably, James Allen Heywood, co-Founder, chairman, PatientsLikeMe.com, discussed the benefits, and lack of major repercussions, of AE reporting by the users of his site. As he explained, because the users of his site can see proactive sharing of their own potential AEs as providing tangible returns (i.e., comparing their experiences to the experiences of other users, utilizing the group as a support system), they are more willing to share personal information in this space and as a result, get the most out of the online community.

Yet some feel that effective discussion of online AE reporting is putting the horse before the cart – specifically, before the FDA is able to adapt the current AE reporting guidelines to be more user-friendly in an online setting.

Known as MedWatch, the current AE reporting method has been criticized as being unwieldy and inefficient, especially for patients. Zen Chu, founder, Accelerated Medical Ventures, remarked that Medwatch needs to be simplified, syndicated and embedded across the Web suggesting a commonly noted potential solution whereby industry and social media sites alike employ a basic widget to report AEs.

Almost uniformly Industry presenters also noted that while physicians were more saavy in interpreting and determining accuracy of medical information online, patients needed clear tools to help them assess risk information and stressed the need to simplify the language used in doing so. Providing the full PI is not something that ultimately helps patients make informed decisions and may in fact lead to them ignoring this information altogether.

Interestingly, it was mentioned that although much of the pharmaceutical industry’s trepidation about venturing into the social media space revolves around uncertainty about their requirements in AE reporting, the reality is that actual mentions of AEs online are extremely limited.

Patients expect that industry will be involved in responsibly informing them about risk information and correcting misinformation from unreliable sources. To do so, industry has to get involved, engage in social media and join the discussion – not just push out static content.

To let your voice be heard about the use of social media by the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA will be accepting written or electronic comments until February 28, 2010.

Submit written comments to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

Submit electronic comments, identified with docket number FDA-2009-N-0441, to www.regulations.gov.