Featured Publications

Environment: Alert - November 18, 2009

Environmental justice – a mix of environmental and civil rights law and policy – is receiving in­creased attention in the Obama Administration, bringing with it challenges and opportunities for municipalities, facilities and others operating in low-income and minority communities. This alert discusses various aspects of environmental justice and the implications for the Obama Administration. Federal agencies, including the DOJ and EPA, have concluded that low-income and minority communities bear a greater environmental risk than the general population. Now is the right time to take stock of your environmental justice situation and take any prudent proactive steps.

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Labor, Employment and Benefits: Alert - November 10, 2009

On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law a Defense Department Fiscal Year 2010 authorization bill that expands the Family and Medical Leave Act’s (FMLA) requirements with respect to “qualifying exigency leave” for family of military members and “military caregiver leave.” Specifically, qualifying exigency leave now applies to employees who have family members on active duty military service in a for­eign country, and military caregiver leave applies to family members of veterans, not just active duty service members. Although the law does not specify an effective date, it ap­pears to take effect immediately.

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Articles & White Papers

Comparative Effectiveness: Will it Foster FDA–CMS Collaboration or Drive the Agencies Apart?
 

Update Magazine

March 31, 2009
 
Michael M. Gaba- Washington

The Obama Administration and the 111th Congress have agreed to spend $1.1 billion in federal funding on comparative effectiveness research as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The provider community, and particularly the industries developing the interventions to be compared, need to consider how this new policy and funding surge will impact how they invest their research and development resources and demonstrate their technologies are worthy of coverage and payment both by public and private sector insurers. While the House of Representatives and Senate agreed on the $1.1 billion price tag, they did not agree on the appropriate use of comparative effectiveness data. With cost versus clinical use being at the heart of the effectiveness debate, the balance of power between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) may be shifting.

Update Magazine 2009, Issue 2

With permission from FDLI

READ: Comparative Effectiveness: Will it Foster FDA–CMS Collaboration or Drive the Agencies Apart?

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