CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News

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Re: CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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From the Public Health Law Program, Office of Strategy and Innovation, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/


*** Columbia University Report on Model State Emergency Health Powers Act. The Center for Health Policy at Columbia University prepared a gap analysis comparing the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA) with existing state and local public health emergency preparedness laws. To read the gap analysis, visit http://www.nursing.columbia.edu/chphsr/projects/law/pdf/MSEHPAGapAnalysisTableBMM05-05-08.doc
*** Dismissal of School Children in the Context of Pandemic Influenza. In response to national pandemic preparedness priorities, CDC commissioned the independent Centers for Law and the Public?s Health: A Collaborative at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities to review the state-level legal framework for reducing the density of school classrooms, with specific focus on closure of schools as a social distancing or social mitigation measure to slow the spread of an H5N1 influenza pandemic or similar highly contagious infectious disease. For more information on the Centers? report, Legal Preparedness for School Closures in Response to Pandemic Influenza and Other Emergencies, see http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/.

*** Online National Resource Center for Emergency Preparedness. The Center for Health Equality at Drexel University?s School of Public Health and the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have launched an online resource for advancing emergency preparedness in culturally diverse communities. The center is an ?online clearinghouse and information exchange portal? featuring hundreds of annotated references in over forty languages. To visit the center or submit a recommended resource, visit http://www.diversitypreparedness.org/

?As outbreak affects 1,000, experts see flaws in law?
The New York Times (07/10/2008) Bina Venkataraman
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/health/policy/10tomato.html

Food safety experts are calling for a closer look at the recordkeeping provisions of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 amid the nation?s largest food-borne outbreak in the last decade. A Food and Drug Administration rule under the Act requires importers, processors, and distributors to track the supply chain of produce, and was intended to give federal officials a way to immediately respond to threats to the nation?s food supply. But more than 1,000 people in 41 states and the District of Columbia have taken ill from Salmonella Saintpaul, and the source of the contamination is still undetermined. Processors of foods suspected in the outbreak, such as tomatoes, often repack boxes to meet buyers? demands; they are not required to record the farm, state, or country of origin when doing so. ?The purpose of the recordkeeping provision of the Bioterrorism Act was to support going back to the origin of food after people have gotten sick when you are trying to find out how the biological agent got there. But the provisions are of little or no value with respect to trace-backs of fresh produce because of the amount of shoe leather and time it would take,? said Michael Taylor, a George Washington University professor and former FDA official. The rule only requires food handlers to track produce one step forward and one step back in the supply chain, but does not specify a standard format for records, further complicating trace efforts.

[Editor?s note: For more information on the current Salmonella Saintpaul investigation, visit http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/.]


?Rethinking volunteer management using a centralized volunteer staging and training area?
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness (06/08) Eric Aakko and others
http://www.dmphp.org/cgi/content/abstract/2/2/127 (subscription required)

 

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Re: CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News

Note, especially, the first item, "Community Pan-Flu Preparedness: A Checklist of Key Legal Issues for Healthcare Providers.", with an excellent forward by Osterholm.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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From the Public Health Law Program, Office of Strategy and Innovation, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/

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Announcements

*** Pandemic Influenza Preparedness. The American Health Lawyers Association has released "Community Pan-Flu Preparedness: A Checklist of Key Legal Issues for Healthcare Providers." To download the Checklist, visit http://www.healthlawyers.org/Templa...Management/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=55721.

*** DHHS and DHS Pandemic Vaccination Guidance. The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security have released guidance on allocating and targeting pandemic influenza vaccine. The guidance provides a planning framework to help state, tribal, local and community leaders ensure that vaccine allocation and use will reduce the impact of a pandemic on public health. Visit http://www.pandemicflu.gov/vaccine/allocationguidance.pdf.

*** Public Health Preparedness Summit Abstracts (8/31). Abstract submissions for the Public Health Preparedness Summit, which will be held February 18-20, 2008 in San Diego, are due August 31. For more information, visit http://www.phprep.org.

"Bush declared 422 major disasters"
New York Times (08/10/08) Austin Bogues
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/washington/10disasters.html

Since 2001, President Bush has declared 422 "major disasters" in jurisdictions across the United States. To trigger federal relief for severe storms, tornadoes, wildfires, and floods under the Stafford Act, a state governor must request that the President declare that a major disaster exists in that state. Money is then released to assist with health and safety measures and other essential community services; the federal government is said to contribute at least 75 percent of the cost. Although experts cannot agree on the cause of the increase in major disaster declarations, most believe the trend will continue.

[Editor's note: Section 102 of the Stafford Act defines "major disaster" as "any natural catastrophe (including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, winddriven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought), or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the determination of the President causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under this Act to supplement the efforts and available resources of States, local governments, and disaster relief organizations in alleviating the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering caused thereby." See http://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/stafford_act.pdf.]

"Preparedness for pandemic influenza in nursing homes: a 2-state survey"
JAMA (07/23/08) Philip W. Smith and others
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/300/4/392 (subscription required)

South Africa: Court finds compulsory isolation of XDR-TB patients justifiable
Minister of Health for the Western Cape v. Goliath
High Court of South Africa, Cape of Good Hope Provincial Division
No. 13741/2007
Decided July 28, 2008
Opinion by Judge B.M. Griesel
http://law.sun.ac.za/proxy10132/faculty-law-portlets/documenthandlerservlet?id=1105

 

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Re: CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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From the Public Health Law Program, Office of Strategy and Innovation, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/

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Announcements

*** Pandemic Flu Storybook. CDC has released the ?Pandemic Influenza Storybook,? containing narratives from survivors, families, and friends about the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
Visit http://www.pandemicflu.gov/storybook/index.html.

*** PlanFirst Webcast (9/25). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will hold a Webcast on September 25 at 2:00 p.m. ET on individual preparedness. The program will teach citizens about steps they can take to plan for a pandemic. For more information, visit http://www.pandemicflu.gov/news/panflu_webinar.html.

?Getting ahead of the next big storm?
Christian Science Monitor (09/08/08) Patrik Jonsson
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0908/p01s02-usgn.html

In the face of destruction wreaked by three devastating storm systems -- Gustav, Hanna, and Ike -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had the opportunity to test its new proactive response philosophy. ?Dynamic regrouping? uses clearly demarked lines of communication to move resources along the storm paths so they will be ready when they are most needed. Under the new response structure, FEMA?s planning team consists of one team concentrating on recovery operations, and another working to anticipate needs ahead of a storm?s landfall. The response effort entails collaboration between the military, civilian emergency professionals, and volunteers. The new philosophy places increased emphasis on volunteer capabilities, giving emergency officials a better sense than during previous disasters of who the volunteers are and what they are trained to do. This time, however, the nation has been forced to contend with recovery efforts in many different geographic areas simultaneously. ?When you have back-to-back storms of national significance, the question is whether resources currently engaged in the first disaster are going to be freed up in time for the second one,? said Craig Fugate, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management in Tallahassee.

?Jump in U.S. measles cases linked to vaccine fears?
Associated Press (08/21/08) Mike Stobbe
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gepLZM_xC1uU_O0mMzBMiqpMFWngD92MSIT80

According to health officials, measles cases in the United States are at their highest level in more than a decade, and nearly half of those cases involve children whose parents refused to consent to vaccination. Scientists with CDC?s Division of Viral Diseases say a typical year sees only one outbreak, with infections of only 10 to 20 people. Through July 30 of this year, the U.S. has had seven outbreaks, including one with 30 cases. In all, 131 people have been diagnosed with measles, and 15 were hospitalized. In 63 cases, the patient or the patient?s parents refused to allow the vaccinations for philosophical or religious reasons; a number of the cases involved home-schooled children who are not required by school entry laws to be vaccinated. The number of outbreaks suggests that pockets of unvaccinated children are forming. Pediatricians are worried about the trend, and say they are having to spend more time convincing parents that the vaccines are safe.

[Editor?s note: To learn more about the measles vaccine from the American Academy of Pediatrics, visit http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/sept08mmr.htm.]

?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/14/6/875.htm

 

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Re: CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News

Wednesday, October 15, 2008
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From the Public Health Law Program, Office of Strategy and Innovation, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/

Announcements

*** Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness Webinar (10/21). The CDC Public Health Law Program will present ?Building Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness -- High-Priority Tools for Multi-Sector Professionals,? on October 21, 2008 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET. The interactive conference call presentation will brief local, state, and tribal participants on 10 high-priority tools for use in assessing and strengthening legal preparedness for all-hazards public health emergencies, with special attention given to pandemic influenza. Intended participants include public health professionals; health care, emergency management, and law enforcement professionals; judges and court administrators; state and local lawmakers; and legal counsel to all these critical actors. For more information about the presentation, available continuing education credits, and call-in procedures, visit http://www.bt.cdc.gov/coca/callinfo.asp.

*** Pan Flu Preparedness Strategies Teleconference (10/22). The American Health Lawyers Association will host ?The Sneeze Heard ?Round the World: Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Strategies to Adopt Now,? on October 22, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET. For more information, visit http://www.healthlawyers.org/Templa...EMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm.

*** Pharmaceutical Response to Pan Flu Symposium (10/23-10/24). Seton Hall Law School?s Center for Health and Pharmaceutical Law and the Seton Hall Law Review will be hosting ?Preparing for a Pharmaceutical response to Pandemic Influenza,? on October 23-24, to examine the legal, ethical, and public policy issues related to developing a pharmaceutical response to an influenza pandemic. For more information, visit http://law.shu.edu/journals/lawreview/symposium/oct08/index.htm.

*** Public Health Preparedness Summit (2/18-2/20). The 2009 Public Health Preparedness Summit will be held in San Diego, February 18-20, 2009. For more information, visit http://www.phprep.org/2009/?CFID=1518091&CFTOKEN=15027974.

*** PREP Act Q&A. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released ?Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act Questions and Answers,? available at http://www.hhs.gov/disasters/emergency/manmadedisasters/bioterorism/medication-vaccine-qa.html.

*** State Pandemic Preparedness Report. The National Governor?s Association has released Pandemic Preparedness in the States: An Assessment of Progress and Opportunity. To access the report, visit http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0809PANDEMICASSESSMENT.PDF.

*** Public Health Legislator Policy Briefs and Talking Points. The Council of State Governments has released a number of new publications designed for state legislators, on topics from health equity to oral health. To access the documents, visit http://www.healthystates.csg.org/Publications.

*** GAO Reports. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released several new reports pertaining to public health. Influenza Pandemic: HHS Needs to Continue Its Actions and Finalize Guidance for Pharmaceutical Interventions is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08671.pdf; Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals: Number Associated with Medical Devices Unknown, but Experts Report Provider Practices as a Significant Factor is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081091r.pdf; Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals: An Overview of State Reporting Programs and Individual Hospital Initiatives to Reduce Certain Infections is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08808.pdf; and Health Information Technology: HHS Has Taken Important Steps to Address Privacy Principles and Challenges, Although More Work Remains is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081138.pdf.

*** New Publication on Public Health Law. Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint (Berkeley and New York: University of California Press and Milbank Memorial Fund, 2nd ed. 2008) by Lawrence O. Gostin, offers a theory and definition of public health law, an examination of its core values, and an explanation of the ways in which law acts as a tool to advance the public?s health. For more information, visit http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/11023.php.

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?If bioterrorists strike, letter carriers might deliver antibiotics?
Washington Post (10/02/08) David Brown
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/01/ST2008100102936.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt recently announced that the U.S. Postal Service may be the solution to the challenge of delivering drugs to protect against anthrax. Pilot projects in 2006 and 2007 in Boston, Philadelphia, and Seattle have demonstrated the efficiency of using mail carriers to deliver antibiotics: in Philadelphia, 50 carriers (and accompanying police officers) reached 55,000 households in less than eight hours. Another trial is set to take place in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota next year. There, about 700 letter carriers will be medically screened, fitted with face masks, and issued a supply of doxycycline for their own families. Leavitt has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug for this purpose. Letter carriers who volunteer to deliver anthrax drugs will not be given bonuses or other incentives. ?Letter carriers are on the street six days a week. They are constantly helping out as just part of their job, and this is taking it one step further,? said Drew Von Bergen of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

[Editor?s note: Secretary Leavitt has also issued a declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act to provide targeted liability protections for anthrax countermeasures. To read the declaration, visit http://www.hhs.gov/disasters/emergency/manmadedisasters/bioterorism/prepact-081001.html.]
?Influenza scientists, WHO face off in virus row?
Associated Press (10/03/08) Robin McDowell
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/03/asia/AS-Vaccines-David---Goliath.php

In a battle that could affect the world?s ability to monitor and track disease and develop vaccines, international influenza scientists are taking on the World Health Organization (WHO). At issue is the WHO policy of collecting virus samples and data from nations around the world. Governments of developing nations relinquish their intellectual property rights to those samples when they provide them to WHO, but argue that those samples are then used by private pharmaceutical companies to make vaccines sold at such high prices that many of those donor nations cannot afford them. Two years ago, WHO agreed to work with developing nations to ensure they have better access to drugs, but that process is still on-going. In the meantime, scientists and other health experts developed a publicly accessible online database which offers basic intellectual property rights to scientists who submit genetic information.

[Editor?s note: To learn more about the online database, administered by the nonprofit organization GISAID, visit http://www.gisaid.org.]

California: Laws require hospitals to strengthen efforts to fight bacteria, reveal infection rates
?Schwarzenegger signs bills to combat staph outbreaks in hospitals?
Los Angeles Times (09/26/08) Jordan Rau
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-health26-2008sep26,0,7486150.story


Canada: New CFIA policy removed reporting language, inspectors say
?Policy change delayed alarm signal over Listeria, inspectors say?
CBC News (10/06/08)
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/10/05/listeria-inspections.html?ref=rss

?Federal air travel restrictions for public health purposes -- United States, June 2007--May 2008?
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (09/19/08)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5737a1.htm

?Effects of school closures, 2008 winter influenza season, Hong Kong?
Emerging Infectious Diseases (10/08) Benjamin J. Cowling and others
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/10/1660.htm

 

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Re: CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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From the Public Health Law Program, Office of Strategy and Innovation, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/


*** Disease, Disaster, Bioterrorism Report. The Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have released the sixth annual Ready or Not? 2008 Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report. A review of selected legal preparedness measures appears on pages 34-40. To read the report, visit http://healthyamericans.org/assets/files/bioterror-report-2008.pdf.


*** Isolation and Quarantine Training. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Local Public Health Institute have developed a Web-based training, "Legal Nuts and Bolts of Isolation and Quarantine," to familiarize participants with the concepts of isolation and quarantine and their historical and modern use in disease control and prevention. Information about the course is available at http://www.masslocalinstitute.org/courseDetails.aspx?dateId=617&courseId=246.

*** Emergency Management Conference Call for Papers (12/31/08). The International Emergency Management Society's (TIEMS) Annual Conference will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, June 9-11, 2009. Poster titles and abstracts are due December 31, 2008; full paper submissions are due March 1, 2009. For more information, visit http://www.tiems.org/.

*** Preparedness Summit (2/18-2/20). The 2009 Public Health Preparedness Summit, "The Changing Face of Preparedness: Building and Sustaining Public Health Capacity for Disaster Response," will be held February 18-20, 2009 in San Diego. For more information, visit http://www.phprep.org/2009/?CFID=2422912&CFTOKEN=44727808.

*** Genomics Summer Institute (6/22-6/26). The University of Washington Center for Genomics and Public Health will host a 5-day introduction in public health genomics, June 22-26, 2009. The institute is aimed at professionals interested in learning about integrating genomics principles and applications into health practice and policy. For more information, visit http://depts.washington.edu/cgph.




"Mad-cow-prevention rule poses its own dangers"
Herald Times Reporter (12/04/08) Michael Rubinkam
http://www.htrnews.com/article/20081204/MAN0101/812040553/1984

A new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule, intended to prohibit the use of cattle brains and spinal cords in livestock feed and pet food, may have unintended consequences for human health. The rule, set to take effect in April, is designed to eliminate the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, which is thought to be spread by feeding the nervous tissue of infected cattle to other cattle, livestock, or pets. Mad cow disease has been linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide. The FDA rule will change how farmers handle dead cattle. One of the most common methods is to send the carcasses to rendering plants, where they might be turned into pet food, soaps, cosmetics, toothpaste, lubricants, and other products. Some plants have announced they will no longer accept cattle carcasses because of the high cost of removing the nervous tissue. Instead of sending carcasses to rendering plants, farmers may simply bury them on their property or let them rot in the open, where some industry officials and regulators say they might become reservoirs for germs, attract vermin, and pollute water supplies. The new rule is expected to reduce the number of cattle processed by rendering plants by 500,000 to 800,000 annually.




"Press council issues new guidelines for reporting HIV"
Indo-Asian News Service (11/17/08) F. Ahmed
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal...hile-reporting-on-hivaids-lead_100120199.html

The Press Council of India (PCI) has issued revised guidelines on HIV and AIDS reporting to ensure more balanced and accurate media coverage of such issues. The new rules were developed with assistance from UNAIDS following a suit filed by the National Network of Positive People regarding a media story about two HIV-infected children, one of whom was subsequently discriminated against. PCI's new rules require journalists not to sensationalize stories or use hidden cameras, and to avoid using images of sick and dying people. The guidelines also require writers to "phold confidentiality and obtain informed consent. Journalists should not disclose the identity of the person infected with HIV unless they have specific permission to do so. Whenever possible, they should get written consent." Children, in particular, should not have their identities revealed. The guidelines also educate journalists on the proper terminology to use when discussing HIV or AIDS, and encourage them to not promote "myths" about prevention and transmission of the virus, or to raise false hopes by reporting on cures that have no scientific validity.

[Editor's note: To read the new Press Council of India guidelines on AIDS and the Media, visit http://www.ngogateway.org/ngo/bitstream/1/716/1/Guidelines on HIVAIDS and Media.doc.]




National: Advocates' efforts to fight superbug result in hospital disclosure, screening laws
"MRSA: Patients revolt against hospital secrecy"
Seattle Times (11/18/08) Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008403751_mrsaday3m0.html



"The scientific basis for law as a public health tool"
American Journal of Public Health (01/09) Anthony D. Moulton and others
http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2007.130278v1 (subscription required)


"Healthcare infections associated with care and treatment of humans and animals"
Emerging Infectious Diseases (12/08) James Gibson and other
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/12/e1.htm

 

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Re: CDC: Excerpts from Public Health Law News

Thursday, January 21, 2009
From the Public Health Law Program, Office of Strategy and Innovation, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/


*** Public Health Law 101. The CDC Public Health Law Program has developed an introductory course on public health law as a training resource for public health practitioners, students, and others. The course comprises 9 slide lecture units for delivery to health departments by their legal counsel and by other persons trained in law. Learn more about the course, download the units, and register for updates at http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/phl101.

*** Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness Workshop. The CDC Public Health Law Program will host the ?Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness Workshop? to be held in San Diego, California on February 18, 2009. This workshop is a pre-conference session for the ASTHO-NACCHO Public Health Preparedness Summit, and is the third session in a series of working meetings developed to encourage public health practitioners and their partners to learn about and implement high-priority tools for legal preparedness. To register for the entire Preparedness Summit or for more information, please visit http://www.phprep.org/2009/?CFID=2713607&CFTOKEN=21802067. If you are already registered and want to add this pre-conference workshop to your Preparedness Summit Planner, visit http://www.phprep.org/2009/Agenda/session/Pre-Conference-Workshop-Legal-Preparedness.cfm.

*** Liability and Public Health Emergencies Article. The American Medical Association?s (AMA) Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness journal has recently published ?Law, Liability, and Public Health Emergencies,? by Sharona Hoffman and others. The study addressed how concerns about liability exposure and a lack of guidance on the scope of liability that medical emergency responders could face may make doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals wary of responding to emergencies. The article is available to subscribers at http://www.dmphp.org/cgi/content/abstract/DMP.0b013e318194898dv1.

*** APHA Annual Meeting. The American Public Health Association will hold its 137th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 7-11, 2009. The Health Law Special Primary Interest Group is now accepting abstracts for presentation. Visit http://apha.confex.com/apha/137am/oasys.epl for more information and to submit abstracts.

*** Law and Catastrophic Disasters Exercise. The National Legal Preparedness Program, Institute for Public Safety and Justice of the University of the District of Columbia and the Center for American and International Law will present ?Law and Catastrophic Disasters: Legal Issues in the Aftermath,? on March 5-6, 2009. The exercise will be held in conjunction with the Mid-Year Meeting of the National Emergency Management Association, and will use a table-top exercise, plenary sessions, and interactive breakout sessions to identify legal problems, issues, and best practices associated with catastrophic disasters. The exercise will focus on evacuation, shelter and security, medical care, education, environmental threats, the judiciary, and critical infrastructure. For more information, visit http://www.cailaw.org/Brochures_2009/Disastermanagement.pdf.

It?s the law: California patients can have an interpreter at their side
Sacramento Bee (01/03/09) Bobby Caina Calvan

A California law enacted in 2003 but not implemented until New Year?s Day gives patients with limited English proficiency the right to an interpreter. Health, dental, and other insurers are now required to provide patients with translators when visiting their doctor, pharmacist, ophthalmologist, or dentist. Advocates believe that as many as seven million people might benefit from the new service. The program is estimated to cost about $25 million. ?The intent is that better communication leads to better health care,? said Ben Singer, a spokesman for Anthem Blue Cross, an insurer in the state. During the five years of hearings on the legislation, health officials heard testimony from children asked to translate complicated medical terminology for their parents. Often, family members who translated could not find the words to describe organs or conditions in their native language; others found it impossible to impart bad news to their loved ones. The new rules require interpreters to be proficient in a language, but according to Don Schinske of the California Healthcare Interpreting Association, the rules do not clarify ?what that level of proficiency is and how it should be demonstrated.? The Association is pushing for a certification program.

[Editor?s note: To read the text of Cal. Code Regs. tit. 28 ? 1300.67.04, visit http://www.hmohelp.ca.gov/library/reports/news/lart.pdf.]

Pa. hospitals go high-tech on infection tracking
Associated Press (12/30/08) Martha Raffaele

In 2007, a Pennsylvania law became the first in the nation to require hospitals to adopt electronic surveillance of infection outbreaks among patients during hospital stays. The electronic system will allow infection-control staff to identify potential systemic infection control problems much more quickly than traditional, paper-based methods. ?It frees up your infection-control people from trying to find infections ? so they can get out on the floor and put systems in place so they don?t happen again,? said Ann Torregrossa, policy director for the Governor?s Office of Health Care Reform. The law also requires hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, and nursing homes to develop infection control plans. Hospitals can opt out of the electronic surveillance requirement, which went into effect December 31, 2008, if they demonstrate they lack the funding or the technological capability. About one-fifth of Pennsylvania?s 163 general hospitals said they will not install the new technology. Those opting out will be required to have a written plan in place explaining how infection control data will be collected and verified for accuracy.