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Member states of the World Health Organization recently forged a draft agreement to help make the world safer from pandemics.
The proposal, which will be considered at the upcoming World Health Assembly in May, aims to strengthen global collaboration on prevention, preparedness and response to... Read More »
Legislation re-introduced into Congress this week would direct the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence to create a program leveraging artificial intelligence to prepare for and respond to pandemics.
Sponsored by U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM),... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and a bipartisan group of Congress members asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to explore all available options to address the latest avian flu outbreak.
In a Feb. 18 letter, the group said the USDA should explore all the mitigation and prevention... Read More »
Legislation led by U.S. Reps. Bob Latta (R-OH) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA) to halt the flow of fentanyl into the country has passed in the House.
The legislation, the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) of Fentanyl Act, would make the temporary class-wide scheduling order for fentanyl-related... Read More »
Legislation to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for fentanyl coming into the United States was reintroduced by U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) on Wednesday.
The legislation would amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to allows the U.S. government to impose sanctions on Chinese individuals and... Read More »
Royal Philips will accelerate the predictive health monitoring of the Rapid Analysis of Threat Exposure (RATE) algorithm for active service personnel now that the U.S. Department of Defense has invested in it.
Following a successful development and pilot program, the RATE technology using... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators led by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) recently asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take action on the nation’s intravenous fluid shortage.
In an Oct. 11 letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the senators urged the department to address... Read More »
Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would try to stop the influx of synthetic analogues entering the United States.
Synthetic drugs are engineered substances similar to already-controlled drugs. They often enter the United States undetected from... Read More »
On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced legislation that would use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to handle pandemic preparedness and response.
The co-chairs of the Senate AI Caucus said the legislation would establish a program called MedShield and would... Read More »
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it would donate more than a million doses of the mpox vaccine, boosting both domestic and international supply.
The JYNNEOS mpox vaccine received regulatory approval from the World Health Organization last week.... Read More »
On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Rob Wyden (D-OR), Cynthia Lummus (R-WY), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced legislation to combat illicit goods, including fentanyl, from entering the country.
The legislation, the Fighting Illicit Goods, Helping Trustworthy... Read More »
Fearing the potential behind a recent outbreak of avian flu (H5N1), 17 U.S. senators wrote to Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack this week urging a more coordinated approach between federal, public and state agencies.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention... Read More »
In a letter to the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO), House Republican leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittees urged an investigation of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and how it protects research funds from Chinese exploitation.
Accusing China of... Read More »
Looking to build on current RNA-based COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) recently announced the Patch Forward Prize, pledging $50 million for those who can advance patch-based vaccines.
While administering vaccines is most often... Read More »
Citing cases where cyberattacks targeted health care systems in the United States, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) recently wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) requesting cybersecurity boosts for the... Read More »
After passing its final hurdles in the U.S. House, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) Eradicating Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to Address National Yearly Losses of Life (END FENTANYL) Act is headed for review by President Joe Biden.
If signed into law, the bill – S.206 –... Read More »
In a major expansion of health care offerings, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans to roll out health care access to all veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards during their service as of March 5, 2024.
This will include millions of veterans, including those who served in... Read More »
With the danger posed by illicit fentanyl at the forefront of concerns for drug regulators, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently wrote to e-commerce companies collectively warning them about the legal dangers of selling pill presses.
These presses, the agency alleged, have... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) released this week a discussion draft of a new bill known as the ONSHORE Manufacturing Act, which proposes incentives to encourage domestic manufacturing of critical battlefield medicines and devices.
ONSHORE, which stands for the Our Nation’s Supply chain for... Read More »
The U.S. Justice Department recently concluded a series of nearly 200 arrests across the country as part of a large-scale operation against drug-trafficking organizations.
The cases spanned four districts and 10 states, as part of a calculated approach by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices – and... Read More »
Eying ways to improve cybersecurity among healthcare operations nationwide, the U.S. Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) released new voluntary performance goals and a new gateway website this week.
“We have a responsibility to help... Read More »
On Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Bob Casey and Mark Kelly (both D-AZ) introduced legislation to address the fentanyl crisis by stopping it at the southern border.
The legislation, the Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act, would increase staffing capacity, as well as add technology to... Read More »
Among the items that were included in the final version of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week was $676 million in funding for the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), providing millions in coverage support for responders to the 9/11 aftermath.
The... Read More »
Opioids have remained a major focus for Congress in recent years, given the scope of their spread across the United States, and this came to a head once more this week with the House’s passage of the TRANQ Research Act (H.R.1734), which now heads to President Joe Biden.
If approved, the bill... Read More »
In letters to Congressional leadership last week, groups including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), National Association of Police Officers (NAPO), and Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) called for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act (S. 1271) to be... Read More »
While the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act has made it into the National Defense bill, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) this week publicly pressed for its enactment and called on the Biden administration for more resources to counter illicit drugs.
FEND Off... Read More »
Valneva SE won approval for the world’s first Chikungunya vaccine – IXCHIQ – last week from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It is a major milestone for a viral disease that has plagued humanity for decades, thanks to the bites of mosquito carriers. Although originally found... Read More »
According to an updated approach released last week by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains focused on the opioid epidemic while reckoning with an ever-changing landscape.
CBP planted its focus firmly around four areas:
... Read More »
With more than 300 proposed amendments in hand, the Working Group of Amendments to the IHR undertook a fifth round of discussions over International Health Regulations 2005 last week, setting up a path to a consolidated proposal and further discussions.
Proposed amendments considered by the... Read More »
Through Project NextGen, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded more than $1.4 billion this week to support development of new tools, technologies and trials of vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19.
Of these funds, the bulk – $1 billion – went to vaccine clinical... Read More »
While lab-based testing has advanced in many ways over the years, sample preservation still relies on refrigerated transport that can cause challenges in remote environments, and this month Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a new program to solicit alternatives.
At... Read More »
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a group of five senators raised alarms over illicit trafficking of tobacco products, denouncing them as threats to public health and a significant source of revenue for transnational criminal organizations.
U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, M.D.... Read More »
U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Chris Coons (D-DE) recently introduced legislation equipping law enforcement officers with trauma kits to respond if a civilian or officer experiences traumatic injury.
The American Law Enforcement Sustaining Aid... Read More »
Under the newly introduced Rolling Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and Drug act, U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) last week proposed fighting drug shortages with increased domestic supplies of critical medications.
The bill would front and center... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Bill Posey’s (R-FL) initiative seeking to reduce American dependence on Chinese production of heparin has been adopted into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The action was advanced by the House of Representatives. It encourages private capital to drive domestic... Read More »
