Public Health

Friday, October 20, 2006
Further Action Needed by DOD to Prepare for Pandemic Influenza
Reps. Waxman and Davis today released a GAO report detailing the Department of Defense's pandemic influenza preparedness efforts. While the department has taken some important steps, accountability, funding, and communications need to be clearer and more focused across the Department to fully prepare for the threat.

Friday, September 22, 2006
Based on a New Study, Rep. Waxman Renews Request for FDA Investigation of Phenylephrine Decongestants
Citing a study conducted and completed in 2006, Rep. Waxman renews his request that FDA investigate whether pheylepherine oral nasal decongestants are effective. Manufacturers have begun to offer alternatives that eliminate pseudoephedrine and relay instead on phenylephrine, which permits them to be sold over-the-counter without any restrictions.

Friday, September 22, 2006
Rep. Waxman Requests Documents on FDA Inspections of Fresh Produce Firms
Following the 20th outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh produce since 1995, Rep. Waxman requests FDA inspection and enforcement records related to spinach and other fresh produce firms, including any record of enforcement actions recommended by FDA staff but ultimately not taken.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Rep. Waxman Works to Increase Flu Immunization Rates Among Health Care Workers
Rep. Waxman asks the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to take greater steps to ensure that health care workers get their annual flu shots. Higher immunization rates among health care workers will not only keep them healthier, it will keep their patients healthier as well.

Monday, July 17, 2006
Federally Funded Pregnancy Resource Centers Mislead Teens about Abortion Risks
A new study released by Rep. Henry A. Waxman finds that federally funded pregnancy resource centers often mislead pregnant teens about the medical risks of abortion, telling investigators who posed as pregnant 17-year-olds that abortion leads to breast cancer, infertility, and mental illness.

Monday, June 26, 2006
Prescription for Harm: The Decline in FDA Enforcement Activity
A new report by Rep. Henry A. Waxman examines how the Bush Administration has carried out FDA’s historic enforcement responsibilities. The report is the result of a 15-month investigation that included a review of thousands of pages of internal agency enforcement records. It finds that there has been a precipitous drop in FDA enforcement actions over the last five years.

Thursday, March 02, 2006
Rep. Waxman Questions Vaccine Budget Cuts
In a letter to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rep. Waxman expresses his concern that the President's budget cuts essential vaccine funding.

Thursday, February 23, 2006
Rep. Waxman Commends Groups For Suing To Stop Administration's Promotion of Unethical Human Pesticide Experiments
Rep. Waxman releases a statement in reaction to the announcement that several public interest environmental and labor groups were suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over the new rule to promote the testing of pesticides on humans.

Monday, January 23, 2006
Rep. Waxman, Sen. Boxer, and Rep. Solis Denounce Leaked Bush Administration Plan to Promote Human Pesticide Experiments
The Democrats criticize a Bush Administration plan to promote pesticide experimentation upon humans. The plan, contained in a final draft rule, was leaked to the legislators by a concerned Administration official who requested that the original copy of the plan not be duplicated in its entirety and widely distributed out of concern for anonymity. According to the EPA’s communications plan, the Administration will officially announce the pesticide experimentation plan later this week as a final regulation.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Labor Department Policy Suppressing Mine Inspection Reports Impedes Reform
Rep. Waxman asks the Labor Secretary Chao to reverse the Mine Safety and Health Administration's 2004 decision to exclude mine safety inspectors' notes in Freedom of Information Act responses. The agency's secrecy policy limited disclosure about hundreds of safety violations at the Sago mine for years before the recent disaster.

Friday, December 16, 2005
Rep. Waxman and Chairman Davis Request Information on the Safety of Medical Devices
After several recent reports of patient injuries associated with the use of defective or unsterile reprocessed single-use medical devices, Rep. Waxman and Chairman Davis write to GAO and to FDA's Acting Commissioner von Eschenbach to request information regarding the adequacy of FDA's oversight of these devices, and how it compares that of single-use devices.

Monday, December 05, 2005
U.S. Position in International Drug Talks Questioned
Reps. Waxman, Brown, and Allen raise concerns that the US position on access to generic versions of lifesaving pharmaceutical drugs in the current World Trade Organization Ministerial in Hong Kong will undermine global public health.

Thursday, November 17, 2005
Poorly Labeled Rice Beverages Threaten Children's Health
In a letter to FDA, Rep. Waxman expresses concern that excessive consumption of rice-based beverages can cause severe malnutrition among young children. He calls on FDA to ensure appropriate labeling and marketing of these products.

Friday, October 14, 2005
The Administration's Record on Avian Flu
Rep. Waxman releases a fact sheet that details how the Bush Administration has ignored at least six major expert reports and statements related to an influenza pandemic, proposed substantial cuts in funding for public health preparedness, and failed to finalize a national response plan for an influenza pandemic or endorse or propose pandemic-flu legislation.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Rep. Waxman's Statement on Human Papillomavirus
In a subcommittee hearing on women's gynecologic cancers, Rep. Waxman discusses the dangers of HPV.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005
New Study Should Influence Condom Labeling Debate
Rep. Waxman writes FDA about a new study that finds consistent condom use significantly reduces the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in women. In recent months, FDA has been under pressure from Republican members of Congress to require warnings that condoms do not protect against HPV.

Thursday, July 28, 2005
“Vaccines for Adults” Legislation Would Provide Access to Life-Saving Vaccines
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Rep. Sherrod Brown, and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard introduce legislation establishing a program to provide access to recommended vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults.

Thursday, July 07, 2005
CAFTA Hinders Developing Nations' Access to Needed Medicines
Rep. Waxman releases a report detailing how CAFTA and other Bush Administration trade agreements are impeding the rights of developing nations to acquire essential medicines at affordable prices.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Jeffords, Sarbanes, Norton and Waxman Introduce Lead-Free Drinking Water Act
Sens. Jim Jeffords and Paul Sarbanes and Reps. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Henry A. Waxman introduce legislation to overhaul and strengthen the federal rules governing lead testing and standards in the nation's public water systems.

Friday, June 24, 2005
Rep. Waxman Asks Rice to Support Evidence-based Needle Exchange
In a letter to Secretary Rice, Rep. Waxman asks her to stop efforts to remove references to needle exchange programs from an important UN document on HIV prevention.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Bush Administration Dishonest About Stem Cell Research
Reps. Waxman and Slaughter write to colleagues about the Bush Administration's spurious claims about stem cell research.

Thursday, June 16, 2005
Waxman and Boxer Release Report on Human Pesticide Experiments
Rep. Waxman and Sen. Boxer release a detailed analysis of 22 human pesticide experiments that the Bush Administration is currently reviewing or plans to review in the future.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Needle Exchange Programs Widely Endorsed by Scientific and Medical Organizations
Rep. Waxman wrote to ONDCP Director John Walters providing a wide range of scientific and medical expert opinions supporting needle exhange programs to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Monday, May 09, 2005
EPA Abandons Rule on Lead Poisoning from Home Renovations
Rep. Waxman, Sens. Boxer and Obama, and Reps. Towns and Lynch protest EPA's abandonment of regulations required by law to protect children from exposure to lead in renovated homes.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Lead-Contaminated Candy Still for Sale in District of Columbia
Rep. Waxman, Congresswoman Norton, and Rep. Schakowsky write to the DC Department of Health about a brand of candy known to contain unsafe lead levels available for purchase in the District.

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