The August issue of Health Care News reports on the protests in Green Bay, Wisconsin against President Barack Obama’s health care plan. More than 1,000 rallied along the route of Obama’s motorcade.
Also in this issue:
* U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl has introduced legislation to prevent the federal government from using comparative effectiveness research funded by the stimulus package to ration health care services.
* U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Susan Collins have introduced legislation that would grant biopharmaceutical firms a brief five-year window of patent exclusivity for innovative biotech drugs. Experts say the proposal threatens patients’ health, perhaps even their lives.
* The Connecticut House of Representatives has passed legislation to create a taxpayer-subsidized program that will bring government into competition with the state’s private insurers.
* Congress has approved a measure putting new restrictions on tobacco products and placing tobacco under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration for the first time in American history.
