Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–August 10, 2015.  This year marks the 50th anniversaries of Medicare and Medicaid and the 80th anniversary of Social Security. Fifty-seven percent of people on Medicare, 70 percent of adults on Medicaid and 56 percent of Social Security recipients (66 percent of those over 85) are women. Together, Social[Read More…]

CALIFORNIA–(ENEWSPF)–August 10, 2015. In early October, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)—you know, the Lyme denialists, the ones who insist chronic Lyme doesn’t exist, who make it so difficult even for patients with acute Lyme to get properly diagnosed and treated, who make it easy for your insurance company[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–August 7, 2015.  The director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Nora Volkow, believes that cannabidiol (CBD) – a nonpsychotropic cannabinoid – is “a safe drug with no addictive effects.” Volkow made the comments in an op-ed published last week by The Huffington Post. Volkow further[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–August 7, 2015.  Newly appointed Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) administrator Chuck Rosenberg publically acknowledged last week that marijuana is “probably” not as dangerous as heroin and then in a clarifying statement made this week, “heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana.” Rosenberg’s comments appear to be in conflict with[Read More…]

Large, international NIH-supported study uses precision medicine to tackle neurological disorders Bethesda, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–August 7, 2015. Scientists searched the chromosomes of more than 4,000 Huntington’s disease patients and found that DNA repair genes may determine when the neurological symptoms begin. Partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, the results may[Read More…]

Portland, OR –(ENEWSPF)—August 6, 2015. Today, Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) welcomed the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg’s acknowledgement that “heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana,” and called on the Department of Justice to reclassify or de-schedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. In a letter to[Read More…]

Airline Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act (S.1972) Would Ensure Life-Saving Medication Available for Passengers with Allergies; Follows Successful Effort to Improve Access to Epinephrine in Schools WASHINGTON –-(ENEWSPF)–August 6, 2015.  U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) this week introduced bipartisan legislation to improve access[Read More…]

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–August 6, 2015. Mayor Rahm Emanuel yesterday announced that the City of Chicago is poised to remove the exclusion of gender reassignment services from city health care benefits; the change will be implemented for all non-union employees, and the city is working with labor partners to also remove the exclusion[Read More…]

Rule Would Save Some Workers’ Lives, But Still Leaves Too Many Unprotected WASHINGTON, D.C. –(ENEWSPF)–August 6, 2015.  Today, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule to modernize the beryllium workplace exposure limit. OSHA’s announcement comes 14 years after Public Citizen first petitioned for stronger protections[Read More…]

Study Focused on Six Countries and Found Reductions in Illegal Drug Use, Crime and Health Care Costs Without Harming Public Safety; Nevada State Senate Considered Legislation for Heroin-Assisted Treatment Trial Project NEW YORK—(ENEWSPF)—August 6, 2015. A seminal review recently published in the prestigious British Journal of Psychiatry confirms that heroin-assisted[Read More…]