No one wants patients to have to wait longer for access to potentially lifesaving new drugs, and the newly approved head of the Food and Drug Administration has made it clear that he intends to speed up current approval processes when possible. However, a new study says safety risks were found in around one-third of all new FDA-approved medications after they had been okayed for use by the agency. [More]
Government Policy
Senators Want FCC Chair To Explain Why Online Comment System Crashed
By 5.9.17
What caused the crash of the Federal Communications Commission’s online comment-filing system? The FCC is blaming denial-of-service attacks from “external actors” without explicitly laying any blame on comedian John Oliver’s latest story about net neutrality. Now, some Senators want to know what happened. [More]
FCC Commissioner Asks Chairman Ajit Pai: Why Don’t You Listen To Your Own Advice On Net Neutrality?
By 5.9.17 — Updated: 5.15.17
Sometimes, the old saw goes, you’ve got to go to war with the resources you actually have, not the ones you might want. So with nothing really left to lose in her battle to preserve net neutrality, the FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner is deploying some scorched-earth Microsoft Word table-making to use FCC Chair Ajit Pai’s own words against him. [More]
In-Flight Electronics Ban Could Be Expanded To Include Flights From Europe
By 5.9.17
Transatlantic travel may soon require you to pack a few good books. The federal government may expand its limited ban on carry-on electronics to include some flights coming from airports in Europe. [More]
Amid Cancelations & Delays, Court Orders Spirit Airlines Pilots To Halt Alleged Work Slowdown
By 5.9.17
With cancelled Spirit Airlines flights resulting in fisticuffs at the nation’s airports, a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the union representing Spirit pilots, hoping to get passengers moving again. [More]
Justice Dept. Says Supreme Court Should Not Hear ‘Dancing Baby’ YouTube Case
By 5.9.17
A decade-old legal dispute over a 29-second YouTube clip featuring a baby dancing to a barely audible Prince tune may not have its day before the Supreme Court, at least if the nine justices take the suggestion of the Justice Department. [More]
FCC Blames “Attacks” For Comment System Crash Following John Oliver Story
By 5.8.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
As we mentioned in our earlier story about John Oliver’s latest call-to-arms in defense of net neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission’s public commenting system was acting a bit shaky. The FCC now claims that this crash wasn’t due to a bona fide rush to file comments, but to malicious attacks. [More]
Bumble Bee Agrees To Plead Guilty To Tuna Fish Price-Fixing, Pay $25 Million Fine
By 5.8.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Bumble Bee Foods, one of the nation’s largest producers of canned tuna, has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges that it conspired with competing companies to fix the price of this common pantry seafood item. [More]
John Oliver Tries To Save Net Neutrality Again; Likens FCC Chair Ajit Pai To A Serial Killer
By 5.8.17
With both the Federal Communications Commission and Congress looking to undo relatively recent net neutrality rules that prohibit internet service providers from interfering with what you do online, it was once again time for Last Week Tonight‘s John Oliver to remind viewers of how important these rules are; possibly disrupting the FCC’s public commenting system in the process. [More]
FCC Looking Into Complaints About Stephen Colbert’s Anti-Trump Jokes
By 5.5.17
TV host Stephen Colbert recently responded to President Donald Trump’s insulting remarks to CBS reporter John Dickerson with a slew of invective of his own. Now, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says his Commission is looking into complaints that the Late Show host’s remarks may have violated obscenity regulations. [More]
Uber Settles Charges Of Sending Unwanted Texts With No Opt-Out
By 5.5.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
If you’re interested in signing up as an Uber driver, a friend or driver can have the site text you a mutually beneficial referral code. Some consumers in Washington state reported receiving referral text messages from the ride-hailing app that they didn’t ask for, though, with no way to opt out, and now the company and the state have settled those charges. [More]
Obamacare Repeal Bill To Face Questions, Changes From Skeptical Republicans
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
The House of Representatives has narrowly passed a budget resolution intended to repeal a number of core tenets of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, with 20 Republicans voting against the bill. It now heads on to the Senate, where the GOP can’t really afford to have any of its members voting no. However, a number of Republicans have already expressed skepticism of what’s in the legislation. [More]
Medical Marijuana Safe From DOJ Prosecution — For Now
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Although Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not a fan of marijuana, federal law has prohibited the Justice Department from using any of the funding it receives from Congress to prosecute medical marijuana in any state where it’s legal. Thanks to a new omnibus spending bill that just passed the House and Senate, it’ll stay that way — at least for the moment. [More]
‘Financial CHOICE Act 2.0’ Rolling Back Consumer Protections Moves Forward
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
The House Financial Service Committee approved the Financial CHOICE Act 2.0 today, signaling the first concrete move to roll back consumer protections and gut the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. [More]
House Closes Loophole Protecting Members From Losing Insurance Benefits; Still Leaves Veterans’ Tax Credits At Risk
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
As part of today’s vote on the Republican resolution to gut the Affordable Care Act, the House of Representatives also voted to close a loophole that would have exempted members of Congress and their staff members from possibly losing certain protections from their insurance plans. Meanwhile, lawmakers took no action to protect millions of veterans from potentially losing access to healthcare tax credits if this bill passes. [More]
House Passes Obamacare Repeal Resolution
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
More than a month after Republicans decided to not vote on a budget resolution that would gut the Affordable Care Act, a revised version of that resolution finally came to the House floor for a vote this afternoon amid concerns that there is no estimate yet on what these changes will cost and how they will affect millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. [More]
FTC: No Evidence That Herbal Products Alleviate Opiate Withdrawal
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Given the pain, nausea, intestinal distress, craving, and other unpleasantness involved in opiate withdrawal, it’s understandable that people might be tempted to put their faith in an herbal supplement that promises to alleviate these problems. However, the Federal Trade Commission says the marketers of one such product had no science to back up their claims. [More]
Obamacare Repeal Could Also Mean More Out-Of-Pocket Costs For Americans With Employer-Sponsored Plans
By 5.4.17
Many people watching the debate about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act have shrugged off many of the concerns — higher costs for people with pre-existing conditions, loss of essential health benefits — because they get their insurance through an employer-sponsored group health plan. However, a provision in the Republican repeal legislation could allow could result in changes to out-of-pocket costs for Americans in these plans. [More]
