A number of Congressional panels have held hearings recently on health care issues, including the following:

  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearings entitled “Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Marketing, Education, or Deception?” and “In the Hands of Strangers: Are Nursing Home Safeguards Working?” In addition, the Health Subcommittee held hearings on the device and cosmetic safety provisions of the draft “Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Globalization Act,” along with hearings on stem cell science, on breast cancer research, and on the “Protecting Children’s Health Coverage Act” (H.R. 5998). Details are available here.
  • A House Oversight and Government Reform hearing entitled “Should FDA Drug and Medical Device Regulation Bar State Liability Claims?”.
  • A House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health hearing on health savings accounts and consumer driven health care and a Subcommittee on Income Security hearing on the use of psychotropic drugs for children in the foster care.
  • House Small Business Committee hearings on “Medicare Physician Fee Cuts: Can Small Practices Survive?,” “The Impact of CMS Regulations and Programs on Small Health Care Providers,” and DMEPOS competitive bidding.
  • A Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing entitled “Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century”.
  • A Senate Special Aging Committee hearing on the future of Alzheimer’s disease.