Philadelphia’s City Council could have fought opioids by placing limits on pharma reps

Does over-prescribing of opioids lie at the heart of the addiction crisis? Some members of Philadelphia City Council along with many public health experts think so. Last week, a bill came before City Council to limit the activities of pharmaceutical sales representatives, also known as detailers, who promote prescription drugs to physicians.

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The Texas ACA ruling is an assault on logic

 ACA opponents have a new approach to attacking the law – incoherence. 

On Friday, a federal judge in Texas accepted the argument of 20 Republican attorney generals that the ACA’s mandate requiring everyone to have insurance is unconstitutional because the tax penalty enforcing it has been repealed. In other words, he struck it down because it no longer has any practical effect. Logic was in for a rough ride in this decision.

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Staying in Their Lane: Health Professionals Must Address Gun Violence [from the Hastings Bioethics Forum]

In the wake of the recent Twitter fight between the National Rifle Association and U.S. physician groups over whether doctors should speak out about firearm policy issues, we argue that professionalism actually requires that doctors take a leadership role in gun policy debates, even if (in fact, especially if) doing so is politically fraught and financially harmful to them.

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The Health Impact Of The Proposed Public Charge Rules [from Health Affairs Blog]

On September 22, the Trump Administration announced it would soon publish in the Federal Register proposed new regulations defining when lawfully present immigrants should be considered a “public charge.” Although the draft regulations posted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were not as far-sweeping as a version that was leaked last winter, if promulgated they would still have a dramatic impact on public health and the health care system.

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Public Comment: HHS Proposed Revisions to Title X Funding Regulations

Yesterday, along with the George Consortium and in collaboration with the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University School of Law, we submitted public comments to the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding proposed revisions to Title X Regulations. We offer a reprint of the comments we submitted. 

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