Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Officials Say Plan Is On Track To Release New Regulations On Research
The Obama administration is pledging to finalize revisions to the federal rules governing medical research 鈥 despite criticism from scientists and the looming specter of the Trump presidency. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services聽have been working on changes to those regulations, collectively known as the Common Rule, for years now. Parts of the proposal have been vigorously opposed by many researchers, and Republicans in Congress have warned the administration not to finalize any new regulations during the transition to a Donald Trump presidency. But federal officials told STAT this week that the agency still intends to finish the revisions before Obama leaves office. (Scott, 12/14)
The National Institutes of Health is expected to release soon a breakdown of the funding available in fiscal year 2017 for President Barack Obama鈥檚 cancer moonshot initiative, agency Director Francis Collins told CQ Roll Call. The 21st Century Cures bill (HR 34) signed by Obama on Tuesday will provide $300 million in funding next year for the program. Collins, in an interview Wednesday, said the agency would release the money allocations intended to help meet the focus areas outlined earlier this year in a federal task force report in the 鈥渘ot too distant future.鈥 (Williams, 12/14)
A former peer reviewer for the Annals of Internal Medicine has admitted to taking a paper rejected from that journal, changing the author names and title, and publishing it as his own in another journal. Today, the true author of the study, Michael Dansinger, MD, from Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, published an open letter to the plagiarist in the Annals of Internal Medicine. (Frellick, 12/12)
It鈥檚 a researcher鈥檚 worst nightmare: Pour five years, and at least 4,000 hours, of sweat and tears into a study, only to have the work stolen from you 鈥 by someone who was entrusted to confidentially review the manuscript. But unlike many sordid tales of academia, this one is being made public. Dr. Michael Dansinger, of Tufts Medical Center, has taken to print to excoriate a group of researchers in Italy who stole his data and published it as their own. (Marcus and Oransky, 12/12)
