News in brief - May 17, 2004

Lawmakers ask Bush to ease stem cell restrictions - Ky. Supreme Court ruling backs local smoking bans - Missouri governor vetoes tort reform - HHS offers blueprint to better health for Americans - Study doubts costs savings from Medicare PPOs

Lawmakers ask Bush to ease stem cell restrictions

More than 200 members of Congress have signed a letter asking President Bush "to relax the restrictions in the current policy" on the use of embryonic stem cells in research on treatments for such conditions as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. Bush has limited federal funding to research on documented embryonic stem cell lines established by Aug. 9, 2001. Since that time, questions have arisen about the usefulness of those lines.

The letter states that while originally there appeared to be 78 lines, only 19 have been made available to scientists, and all are contaminated with mouse feeder cells. The restrictions on funding also are discouraging young researchers from entering the field, the lawmakers write.

Ky. Supreme Court ruling backs local smoking bans

Local governments in Kentucky have the right to pass laws prohibiting smoking in public buildings, including bars and restaurants, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in late April. "The ordinance banning smoking in public places is permitted to go into effect," the court wrote.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in 2003 became the first local government in Kentucky to pass a ban on the state's No. 1 cash crop. Before the law took effect, the Lexington-Fayette County Food and Beverage Assn. challenged it, arguing that business owners should have the right to make decisions about their businesses.

The AMA/State Medical Society Litigation Center, along with the Kentucky Medical Assn., Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights and the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, filed a brief urging the court to uphold the law. The organizations argued that ordinances like the one passed in the Lexington area are important to improving public health.

Missouri governor vetoes tort reform

Missouri physicians won't see a lower cap on noneconomic damages awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits for now. Missouri Gov. Bob Holden vetoed a bill passed by the Legislature that would have lowered the limit to $400,000 and done away with the annual adjustment for inflation. The current noneconomic damages cap stands at $565,000.

Missouri is one of 19 states that the American Medical Association says is in the midst of a medical liability insurance crisis.

HHS offers blueprint to better health for Americans

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced the federal government's Blueprint for Action initiative outlining steps that individuals and groups can take to help improve overall health status in the United States.

These include engaging in physical activity, maintaining a healthy diet, limiting alcohol intake, quitting smoking, and getting immunizations and screenings. Chronic diseases and conditions account for at least seven out of every 10 deaths in the United States and consume more than 60% of health care spending.

"Much of the chronic disease burden is preventable," Thompson said. "By engaging individuals, families, health care providers and professionals, we can attack this growing epidemic." The blueprint said the most immediate and effective changes in people's lives are controlled by individuals themselves.

Study doubts costs savings from Medicare PPOs

Medicare preferred provider organizations are unlikely to achieve lawmakers' goals of reining in program spending, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The PPOs established by the Medicare reform bill will go into effect in 2006 with a variety of financial incentives designed to pull plans into all regions of the country.

"The very reasons PPOs are so popular for privately insured Americans -- more choice and less oversight of care than HMOs -- will make it difficult for PPOs over the long haul to slow cost growth and improve quality in Medicare, especially since traditional Medicare already provides wide choice of providers and few restrictions of care," said Paul Ginsburg, PhD, the center's president.