News in brief - July 3, 2000

Decision pending on gene patent moratorium - AMA endorses elimination or reductions of mercury - Tobacco money still must be safeguarded - Questions about over-the-counter antimicrobial products

July 3, 2000: health news in brief from AMA Annual Meeting.

Decision pending on gene patent moratorium

The AMA Board of Trustees will decide whether the organization should ask the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to place a moratorium on the patenting of genes, based on direction from the House of Delegates during its Annual Meeting in Chicago. This issue was considered time-sensitive because the government office is expected to issue regulations on the subject sometime this fall. It is "very, very complex," said Myron Genel, MD, chair of the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs chair and an assistant dean at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. Currently, the rationale for patenting the identification of gene sequences is to encourage intellectual property development and the translation of these discoveries into viable usable products, he said. However, the fear is that resulting medical advances will be held back as trade secrets, he added. CSA is doing a study on all these issues and will soon issue a report.

AMA endorses elimination or reductions of mercury

The AMA will encourage efforts to minimize or eliminate mercury use in hospitals and other health care facilities, according to a resolution passed at this year's Annual Meeting. Maryland delegate Hilary O'Herlihy, MD, described this approach as a "no-brainer" because of the public health hazard caused by both the manufacture and disposal of equipment that involves mercury. Still, the issue proved contentious because the element is considered by some to be the best option for many diagnostic machines. "I know that my blood pressure machine is the most accurate machine that I have in the hospital for measuring blood pressure," said Robert Rigolosi, MD, a New Jersey nephrologist.

However, Bruce A. Scott, MD, a member of the Board of Trustees, said the new policy took a prudent approach in risk reduction while not affecting machines that did not have an effective mercury-free alternative. "I don't believe it goes so far as a mandate in those areas where it offers a health benefit," he said.

Tobacco money still must be safeguarded

The AMA continues to keep a close eye on a variety of tobacco-related issues. First, consideration of which options best ensure that money from tobacco settlements will be used to fund public health measures -- including the possibility of creating public trusts -- will be the subject of a report to be presented at the AMA's Interim Meeting in December.

"It would be useful for all of us to have some [AMA] source looking at the experience of the various states ... as we approach our state legislators in dealing with this problem," said D. Robert McCaffree, MD, a representative from the American College of Chest Physicians.

Additionally, the house endorsed policies calling on states to adequately fund the enforcement of laws restricting tobacco sales to minors, urging Congress to pass legislation granting broad-based powers to the FDA to regulate tobacco products, and opposing federal support of tribal smoke shops, where cigarettes are sold at prices below retail. This issue will also receive further study to determine if federal funding is actually being used to set up these shops.

Questions about over-the-counter antimicrobial products

Antimicrobial hand soaps and lotions have become a part of everyday life, but science has begun to question whether their use causes harm. The AMA added its voice to the discourse during its Annual Meeting last month by calling on the Food and Drug Administration to expedite regulation of such products. According to the AMA's new policy, it will also monitor FDA progress in evaluating the safety and effectiveness of over-the-counter hand and body washes. The AMA's house also encouraged continued research on the use of common antimicrobials as ingredients in consumer products and their impact on the major public health problem of antimicrobial resistance. This action stemmed from a review by the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs that found data do not necessarily support the efficacy or safety of these products. Meanwhile, the same report identified other studies suggesting growing acquired resistance to these commonly used antimicrobial agents. The report did not, however, make a conclusive determination about whether the use of these products contributes to the much broader general problem of increased resistance to therapeutic antibiotics. On this issue, the house called on the AMA to continue to collaborate with appropriate federal agencies, other medical specialty societies and other appropriate public health organizations to address the urgent problem of increasing antimicrobial resistance and its impact on public health.