Congressional Research Service Reports - 19 Matching Results

Search Results

Results: 1 - 19
open access

The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer

Description: Numerous federal, state, and local agencies share responsibilities for regulating the safety of the U.S. food supply, which many experts say is among the safest in the world. This report discusses various food safety proposals in Congress, as well as agencies with food safety related responsibilities.
Date: August 18, 2010
Creator: Johnson, Renée
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Medical Malpractice Liability Reform: H.R. 5, 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses H.R. 5, which would preempt state law regarding some aspects of medical malpractice liability and liability for defective medical products, including drugs. The legislation would among other things, place caps on noneconomic and punitive damages (in states that have not enacted and do not enact caps), eliminate joint and several liability, modify the collateral source rule, limit lawyers' contingent fees, enact a federal statute of limitations, and provide for periodic pay… more
Date: January 18, 2006
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Veterans Affairs: Presumptive Service Connection and Disability Compensation

Description: This report discusses presumptive service connection, its legislative history, and current challenges in making evidence-based determinations of presumptions. It also discusses the Agent Orange Act (P.L. 102-4) and suggests implications of the process established by the act for future presumptive service-connected determinations.
Date: November 18, 2014
Creator: Panangala, Sidath Viranga; Shedd, Daniel T. & Moulta-Ali, Umar
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Immigration Policies and Issues on Health-Related Grounds for Exclusion

Description: This report discusses the criteria that foreign nationals must meet before admission to the United States, including the reasons why a foreign national might be denied admission, most particularly on health-related grounds. This report discusses such issues in relation to the recent outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 ("swine flu") virus, and how the outbreak has affected various government agencies, such as the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). … more
Date: May 18, 2009
Creator: Haddal, Chad C. & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Public Health and Medical Emergency Management: Issues in the 112th Congress

Description: This report summarizes key issues in domestic public health and medical preparedness and response, and discusses selected federal programs by citing other CRS reports and sources of additional information.
Date: February 18, 2011
Creator: Lister, Sarah A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federal Taxation of the Drug Industry and Its Effects on New Drug Development

Description: This report examines the impact of federal taxation on the incentive to invest in new drug development. More specifically, it looks at the provisions in current tax law that affect the performance of the drug industry, compares the industry's federal tax burden with that of other major industries, and assesses the effect of federal taxation on the incentive to invest in new drug development.
Date: March 18, 2009
Creator: Guenther, Gary
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Stem Cell Research

Description: Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into virtually any cell in the body and they may have the potential to treat medical conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. In August 2001, President Bush announced that for the first time federal funds would be used to support research on human embryonic stem cells, but funding would be limited to “existing stem cell lines.”
Date: July 18, 2005
Creator: Johnson, Judith A. & Williams, Erin D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Pros and Cons of Allowing the Federal Government to Negotiate Prescription Drug Prices

Description: The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) expressly forbids the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from negotiating the price of prescription drugs on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. This report outlines the arguments for and against allowing the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. This report will be updated, as needed.
Date: February 18, 2005
Creator: Hahn, Jim
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

ERISA Regulation of Health Plans: Fact Sheet

Description: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA, P.L. 93-406) places the regulation of employee benefit plans (including health plans) primarily under federal jurisdiction for about 124 million people. ERISA’s treatment of health plans is both complicated and confusing. ERISA has been interpreted as dividing health plans into two groups regulated differently under the law: about 54 million people are covered by self-insured plans for which the employer, rather than an insurer, assume… more
Date: August 18, 2001
Creator: Chaikind, Hinda Ripps
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federal Funding for Unauthorized Aliens' Emergency Medical Expenses

Description: This report discusses the amount of money spent, as well as the amount of federal funds available to provide emergency medical care to unauthorized (illegal) aliens in the United States. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the amount of money spent for emergency medical care for unauthorized aliens since most hospitals do not ask patients their immigration status. Additionally, prior to the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-173) o… more
Date: October 18, 2004
Creator: Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

A Shortage of Registered Nurses: Is It on the Horizon or Already Here?

Description: The largest, traditionally female-dominated health care occupation is registered nurses (RNs). It has been asserted that there are too few RNs available today to meet employers’ needs, that is, there is a shortage of nurses at the present time. It also has been estimated that there could well be a shortage of RNs in the not-too-distant future. This report will analyze the labor market conditions facing RNs and their employers.
Date: May 18, 2001
Creator: Levine, Linda
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Influenza Antiviral Drugs and Patent Law Issues

Description: This report identifies and analyzes the patent law aspects of the current avian influenza drug situation. First, the report explains the role that patent rights have played in affecting the availability of Tamiflu. Second, the report examines options for increasing the drug’s production, including the possibility of governments abrogating Roche’s patent rights by issuing compulsory licenses to other drug companies to manufacture generic versions of Tamiflu without Roche’s consent.
Date: November 18, 2005
Creator: Yeh, Brian T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen