John Dingell News

When FBI investigators probing New York prostitution rings, Boston organized crime or potential terrorist plots anywhere want access to a suspect's telephone contacts, technicians at a telecommunications ... via Concord Monitor

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology Article Date: 08 Apr 2008 Rep. via MediLexicon

The U.S. Congress is investigating relations between the chemical industry and scientists hired by the EPA to check chemical safety levels, officials said. via RedOrbit

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking Also Included In: Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals Article Date: 02 Apr 2008 Markup legislation that would grant the FDA authority over tobacco product regulation has ... via MediLexicon

“Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and this legislation will help address this enormous public health problem”

WASHINGTON -- Landmark legislation that would give the federal government the power to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products passed an early hurdle Wednesday. via Los Angeles Times

The House Judiciary Committee is set to work on a couple of bills on Wednesday that would allow for two new Indian casinos in Michigan -- even though another committee has already approved them. via Hotel Online

Democrats in Congress ratcheted up their scrutiny of marketing tactics used by Amgen and Johnson and Johnson to promote their anemia drugs, suggesting they encouraged unsafe use by doctors. via WOOD-TV Grand Rapids

“The most important word is 'optional,' which too often gets lost in the intra-industry acrimony surrounding this legislation”

Leaders of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers Monday praised the Bush Administration for its support of the Optional Federal Charter for insurance companies and producers, calling the move a turning ... via Market Wire

Col. Oliver North is the keynote speaker at the Michigan-based Fallen & Wounded Soldiers Fund's third annual auction-dinner on April 26 at Laurel Manor in Livonia. via Detroit Free Press

“It is imperative that CDC take no action that might be viewed as retaliation against any employee involved in any of the aforementioned studies, especially Dr. De Rosa”

A House committee warned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday not to fire a whistleblower who was involved in a controversial draft report that suggested pollution is causing health ... via C-Health

“The good news is the EPA is listening to Congress by agreeing to reopen its libraries and abandon its ill-conceived library closure plan”

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to reopen five closed libraries to the public by this fall, the agency said in a report Thursday. via Newsday.com

“It is important for Congress to focus on why these Medicaid dollars are needed and what impact implementing these regulatory changes would have on states, communities, and most importantly, Medicaid beneficiaries”

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP Article Date: 25 Mar 2008 The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living urged strong and swift congressional support for a new bipartisan ... via MediLexicon

“We deeply regret that this incident may cause those who have participated in one of our studies to feel that we have violated that trust.”

Lawmakers are questioning why the government waited almost a month to warn 2,500 patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health study that some of their medical records were in a stolen laptop computer. via KFMB-TV San Diego

“The construction of a nationwide, next-generation, interoperable broadband network for public safety is a crucial policy objective, and the need for such a network has not diminished”

U.S. congressional leaders are planning hearings on the failure of the FCC's 700-MHz spectrum auction to generate high enough bids for the public-safety D block to reach its reserve price. via Customer Interaction Solutions

“It's not surprising that many minorities oppose higher gas taxes, as such taxes are sharply regressive, harming the economically-disadvantaged disproportionately”

Nearly half -- 48 percent -- of Americans are unwilling to spend even a penny more in gasoline taxes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says a new nationwide survey released today by the National Center for ... via Aftermarket Business

“I think when you are talking about raising gas prices, there may be short-term reduction, put off vacations, but bottom line is over long term, that isn't going to have much of an effect”

A Michigan congressman wants to put a 50-cent tax on every gallon of gasoline to try to cut back on Americans' consumption. via MyFOX Atlanta

“We do know that heparin sourced and produced in North America by SPL has not been shown to have the same peak characteristics seen in certain lots of heparin sourced in China and has not been implicated during the investigation”

U.S. health officials have identified a contaminant in batches of the blood thinner heparin associated with 19 deaths and are trying to determine how the chemical got into the drug. via KCBY-TV Coos Bay

“It is also protective of human health and the environment and consistent with the agency's goal to reduce reporting burden where there would likely be no federal, state or local emergency response to such release reports”

Democratic lawmakers are questioning a Bush administration plan to eliminate requirements for farms to disclose air pollution from animal waste. via Ann Arbor News

“On this grim milestone, it is worth remembering how we got into this situation, and thinking about how best we can get out”

President Bush says he has no doubts about launching the unpopular war in Iraq despite the "high cost in lives and treasure," arguing that retreat now would embolden Iran and provide al-Qaida with money for ... via Bradenton Herald

“The routine use of chemical industry employees and representatives in EPA's scientific review process, together with EPA's dismissal of Dr. Rice raises serious questions with regard to EPA's conflict of interest rules and their application”

A House committee opened an investigation Monday into potential conflicts of interest in scientific panels that advise the Environmental Protection Agency. via Seattle Post-Intelligencer