Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Lawmaker: NFL Strong-Armed NIH Over Study On Link Between Brain Injuries, Football
National Football League officials improperly sought to influence a government study on the link between football and brain disease, according to a senior House Democrat in a report issued Monday. New Jersey Representative Frank Pallone says the league tried to strong-arm the National Institutes of Health into taking the project away from a researcher who the NFL feared was biased. (Taylor, 5/23)
Senior health officials at the NFL improperly tried to intervene in a government study into the risks of brain injury from football, according to a report by congressional investigators released Monday. At least a half-dozen NFL officials tried to change the direction of a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which was funded by a $30 million donation from the football league. (Ferris, 5/23)
In other news from Capitol Hill, a markup is scheduled for a long-delayed mental health bill —
The House Energy and Commerce committee will mark up a major mental health reform bill in June, panel spokeswoman Jennifer Sherman said Monday. The bill from Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) has long been delayed amid controversy, but Republicans have recently been circulating a draft of revisions. (Sullivan, 5/23)
