Healthcare and Politics and the FDA
A free public service for a better community
A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare
If there are subjects you’d like to see or improvements made, please let me know using the comment button below.
Videos of these newsletters appear on Youtube on this channel. Let me know what you think.
Elections and Healthcare
Teammates - I found a good in-depth summary of how the Biden and Trump administrations compare with respect to healthcare. It was published this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
There are lots of familiar details - Biden wants to expand ACA, Trump wants to get rid of it, Biden supports reproductive rights, Trump is proud of cancelling them.
Since the first presidential debate is this week and I am pretty sure that there will be no in depth discussion of healthcare policies, I place this article for your consideration.
Make no mistake - our votes and our voices matter. Let’s be sure that we exercise both.
EMTALA
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, requires doctors to stabilize or treat any patient who shows up at an emergency room.
In a leaked decision, we’re learning that The Supreme Court may rule 6-3 to uphold EMTALA, preserving the 40-year-old law that requires hospitals to provide emergency abortion care. The decision would reinstate a lower court order that had ensured hospitals in the state of Idaho could perform emergency abortions to protect the health of the mother. The posted version indicated the majority will dismiss appeals by Idaho and Republican leaders in the state without resolving the core issues in the case.
This is critical because when a pregnant person’s water breaks before fetal viability she needs to be treated, by aborting the fetus, so that she has a chance to live. If you let her linger, the result is frequently sepsis and then both the fetus and the woman are dead.
I understand that water breaking prematurely happened 54 times at St. Luke’s in Boise, Idaho last year. These women were not treated but instead told to travel to Seattle or Portland to get medical care to save their lives. 800 miles away. The legislature in Idaho had reinterpreted what DO NO HARM means badly.
Happily 6 Supreme Court justices disagreed and may demand that hospitals now follow federal regulations and provide care for these women.
HOW IS IT 3 OF THEM DISAGREE? PS it was Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch.
New FDA Guidance Released
Previously we have written and acted to move the FDA to require more diverse populations when testing new drugs. An increase in sexual, age, and racial diversity will help determine how new medications work in those populations and guide physicians to recommend them appropriately. Here is a link to the FDA’s press release yesterday. If you live in the medical trial world here is the actual draft guidance.
Extra Credit Action
Here is a button for public comments on the FDA proposed rule. Comments are due by September 26, 2024.
Here is the comment I submitted:
“Thank you for recommending that medications be tested on populations other than white male. There are so many medications that do not work in the same fashion for both sexes. Additionally, there are some medications that do not work as well for women who are older. Here is a link for reference., It is an NIH example https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10304741/
Again thank you.”
Is Housing Healthcare - The Impact of Housing Instability & Housing Quality On Our Health
Jul 18, 2024 12:00 PM PDT - Sponsored by the League of Women Voters - Bay Area
ZOOM meeting - Register Here
Description
Death vs. Dollars – the next event in the League of Women Voters Bay Area public health series "Is Housing Healthcare - the impact of housing instability and housing quality on our health" is on July 18th from noon to 1:15 pm PDT on Zoom.
They will spotlight the increased health risks of unstable and poor quality living conditions on health outcomes, and discuss whether housing is a health related social need.
County of Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez, a representative of SV@Home, and Melissa Jones, Executive Director of BARHI, will share their expertise.
The series is based on the premise: “Social policy is health policy. Economic policy is health policy. Education policy is health policy.”
Resources
Find My Elected Officials
Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email
Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
Thanks for reading Healthcare Advocacy! Subscribe for free to receive new posts