Re: CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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From the Public Health Law Program, Office of Strategy and Innovation, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/
*** Pandemic Influenza Webcast (6/4). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will host a live, online discussion for state pandemic influenza planners on June 4, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. ET. To watch the Webcast, visit
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/news/panflu_webinar.html.
*** Infection Control Conference (6/15-6/19). The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology will hold its annual conference in Denver, Colorado, June 15-19, 2008. Visit
http://conference.apic.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=General_Information for details.
?Safety lapses raised risks in trailer for Katrina victims?
Washington Post (05/25/08) Spencer S. Hsu
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/24/AR2008052401973.html?nav=hcmodule
By recent count, 17,000 Hurricane Katrina survivors who lived in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers had joined a federal class-action lawsuit against 64 trailer manufacturers and the federal government. The plaintiffs claim that formaldehyde emissions from resins and glues in the trailers? particleboard flooring, plywood wall panels, and composite wood cabinets caused respiratory problems, cancer, and deaths among some trailer occupants. According to industry analysts, some of the trailer manufacturers used cheaper, substandard wood products to meet production targets, increasing emissions of formaldehyde. FEMA, which has since barred the use of trailers, faults those manufacturers for the health problems. ?We bought them in good faith, just like we have for the last 20 years,? said R. David Paulison, who became acting FEMA administrator two weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. But trailer manufacturers say federal guidelines were inconsistent, and that they relied on suppliers to deliver higher quality materials. For their part, the wood suppliers blame high-formaldehyde-emitting plywood imports that saturated the U.S. market during the recent housing boom. ?I don?t believe that anybody expected these people to stay in the trailers as long as people have stayed in them,? said Kathy Munson, a spokeswoman for Fleetwood Enterprises, whose subsidiaries produced 10,600 FEMA trailers and 3,000 mobile homes. Paulison has admitted that FEMA did not ask manufacturers if it would be safe to house evacuees for 18 months or more.
[Editor?s note: To read the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry?s toxicological profile of formaldehyde, see
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp111.pdf. For more information on the CDC FEMA trailer study, see
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/trailerstudy/.]
?New Florida law allows low-cost health policies?
New York Times (05/22/08) Kevin Sack
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/us/22crist.html
Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed a bill last week creating the Cover Florida Health Care Access Program to provide low-cost health coverage by allowing the sale of bare-bones insurance policies. Crist hopes the Cover Florida plans sell for no more than $150 a month, about 60 percent less than the average cost of a policy for a single person in Florida, according to state insurance regulators. Although insurers may exclude many of the 52 services currently mandated for standard policies -- such as acupuncture or podiatry -- the Cover Florida plans must include preventive services, office visits, screenings, surgery, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, and diabetes supplies. The law prohibits insurers from rejecting applicants based on age or health status, and some policy options must include catastrophic and hospital coverage. Cover Florida policies will be available for any 19- to 64-year-old Floridian who has been uninsured at least six months and who is not eligible for public insurance programs, such as Medicaid. The new law also allows parents to cover children until age 30, up from age 25. Opponents of the new law say such health plans may not be appealing to consumers, since they may require high out-of-pocket costs, but Crist said he was optimistic that the plans would be beneficial to the uninsured. ?Our obligation is to find a way without tax dollars to still provide better health care for our people,? he said. Florida is the fourteenth state to adopt a statute allowing low-cost health plans.
[Editor?s note: To read 2008 Fla. Laws Ch. 2008-32, ?An act relating to health insurance,? see
http://laws.flrules.org/files/Ch_2008-032.pdf.]
?Hospitals face hand-washing crackdown?
Globe and Mail (05/20/08) Lisa Priest
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...716695&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true (subscription required)
Beginning in January 2009, Accreditation Canada will require nearly all of the country?s acute-care hospitals to conduct hand-hygiene audits in an on-going effort to curb hospital-acquired infections. The non-profit, independent organization will also require facilities to have a plan to maintain or improve hand-washing compliance. ?Clearly, hand hygiene is a very important step in the prevention and/or control of spread of infection?. We?re at the point where we can?t afford not to do it,? said Wendy Nicklin, Accreditation Canada?s president and chief executive officer. Nearly 100 percent of Canada?s acute-care hospitals are accredited with the organization, as are many nursing homes, some community health centers, home-care organizations, and other healthcare facilities. Michael Gardam, director of infection prevention and control for Toronto?s University Health Network, was pleased the new rules would force hospitals to comply but said most do not have the resources to conduct an audit. ?By making it mandatory, they will need the resources to be able to do the audits, which in my mind is really important,? said Dr. Gardam. Research indicates that only 40 percent of healthcare providers in Canada properly wash their hands. An estimated 220,000 people develop hospital-acquired infections in Canada each year, experts say, yet half could be prevented through proper hand hygiene. The move follows the lead of other countries, including the United States, where the Joint Commission, Accreditation Canada?s counterpart, has also tied hand hygiene to hospital accreditation.
California: Earthquake to be featured in state?s largest test of emergency system
?Biggest drill planned for ?inevitable? California quake?
Press-Enterprise (05/23/08) Jennifer Bowles
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=CAL-QUAKEDRILL-05-23-08
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Louisiana: Committee approves bills influenced by Katrina
?Legal protections for doctors during disasters advance?
Times-Picayune (05/20/08) Bill Barrow
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1211260934247440.xml&coll=1
LAW BEHIND THE NEWS___________________
The Louisiana Legislature is nearing final passage on a package of bills designed to protect healthcare workers from lawsuits stemming from care given during a declared emergency. The bills were inspired by a high-profile lawsuit concerning patient deaths at New Orleans? Memorial Medical Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Two Senate Bills have passed the Senate and the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee, while House Bill 53 has cleared the House and is awaiting action in the Senate.
Senate Bill 301 provides:
During a declared state of emergency, medical personnel immune from liability in R.S. 37:1731, who render or fail to render emergency care, health care services, or first aid, shall not be liable for any civil damages to patients as a result of an evacuation or treatment or failed evacuation or treatment conducted in accordance with disaster medicine protocol and at the direction of military or government authorities, unless such damage or injury was caused by willful misconduct by such medical personnel.
Senate Bill 330 provides:
Medical personnel who, in good faith and regardless of compensation, render or fail to render emergency care, health care services or first aid during a declared state of emergency when such state of emergency affects the rendering of such medical care shall not be liable for any civil damages or injury as a result of any act or omission related to such rendering of or failure to render services, unless the damages or injury was caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct.
HB 53 provides:
?that during a declared state of emergency, the limitation of liability for health care providers who gratuitously render emergency health care to persons injured as a result of the emergency extends to any area in which the emergency health care is rendered.
Visit
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/SB301.pdf for the text of SB 301.
Visit
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/SB330.pdf to read the text of SB 330.
Visit
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/HB53.pdf to read HB 53.
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National: New law prohibits discrimination based on genetic predisposition
?Bush signs genetics anti-discrimination law?
Reuters (05/21/08)
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2143439320080521
International: Study reviews strategies to mitigate impact of pandemic in developing countries
?Major issues and challenges of influenza pandemic preparedness in developing countries?
Emerging Infectious Diseases (06/08) Hitoshi Oshitani and others
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/6/pdfs/875.pdf
