People’s Pharmacy: Cancer drug prices continue to soar. 2D
HealthToday
T H U R S D A Y , M A R C H 29, 2007
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WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
AGING
Alzheimer’s task force?
As Alzheimer’s disease continues to plague Alabama’s elderly, one politician has asked that a 14-person Alzheimer’s disease task force be established by the state. State Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, sponsored the bill that was introduced earlier this month. She did not return phone and e-mail requests for comment by Wednesday. The stated goal of establishing the task force is to assess the current and future impact of the disease. The task force would be charged with looking at what role the state is taking and what future public action should be considered. Researchers, caregivers, Alzheimer’s patients, doctors and state officials are cited as the people who should serve on the task force. BILL: HB201 ■ Sponsor: Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville ■ Status: First read March 6 and referred to committee.
Political prescriptions By Sarah Bruyn Jones Staff Writer
H
ealth is not just a topic between doctor and patient. Politicians have a say, too. This year in Montgomery is no exception. Both the Senate and House Health Committees in the 2007 regular legislative session have been busy with issues ranging from hospital and nursinghome payments to public tobacco use and steroids. And new bills that deal with health-related policies are continuing to be introduced. On Tuesday, state Sen. Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega, introduced a bill that would allow anyone 17 and older to donate blood without parental consent. As of Tuesday, 19 different bills were sitting in the House health committee. Eight bills were waiting to be addressed in the Senate health committee. That doesn’t count the bills that have made it out of the committee. There are six bills relating to abortion, three in each
chamber. The House has a bill, sponsored by state Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, that would forbid human cloning. Several bills address childbirth. State Sen. Phil Poole, D-Tuscaloosa, sponsored a bill that would mandate insurance policies and contracts to cover in vitro fertilization programs. Existing law doesn’t specify such a requirement. State Sen. J.T. “Jabo” Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, sponsored a bill that would establish a birth defect registry maintained by the state and available to researchers. Numerous bills address public policy and tobacco. Some were assigned to the House Health Committee, while others went through a different process. The House Judiciary Committee, for instance, has a bill that would increase the penalties for selling tobacco products to minors. Other bills seek to amend the Constitution to forbid most smoking in restaurants and bars. We have put together information on some of the bills that could have an impact on how health care is delivered in Alabama. Some of the more nuanced bills dealing with complex topics such as licensing health care providers and facilities, are not covered here.
CALL FOR UPDATES To check a bill’s status during the legislative session, call: 800-499-3052 for House bills; 800-499-3051 for Senate bills.
TREATMENT
Regulating epilepsy drugs
MORE BILLS | 3D A look at more health-related bills under consideration.
State Rep. Ronald Johnson has a pharmacy degree from Auburn University, and he’s using that knowledge to push a change in how epilepsy drugs are dispensed. Johnson has sponsored a bill that would make it illegal for a pharmacist to substitute one version of an anti-epileptic drug for another, including the generic version. Punishment would be to suspend or revoke the license of any pharmacist who violates the provisions. State Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, introduced the bill in the Senate. She also chairs the Senate Health Committee. Five other senators are cosponsoring the bill. Similar bills are being introduced around the U.S. at the urging of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. In Alabama, two chapters of the Epilepsy foundation — one in the southern part of the state and the other in the north — are pushing for the bill’s passage. “Epilepsy patients are super sensitive to medication levels,” said Melvin Maraman, an advocate with the Epilepsy Foundation of South Alabama. “This is absolutely not an antigeneric bill.” Generic versions, while similar, can have slight variations that could negatively affect an epileptic patient, Maraman said. Generic drug manufacturers have raised some concern over the bill, but the bill has garnered support from Alabama neurologists. The American Academy of Neurology issued a position paper on the subject in November and many statelevel legislations, including Alabama’s, have followed the position of the academy.
Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin cancer among men in the United States. With that in mind, state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, wants to mandate that insurance companies pay for annual prostate cancer screenings. There are two types of screenings —- one relies on a blood test and the other on a digital rectal exam. Smitherman’s bill seeks to cover both exams annually for men 40 and older. No major scientific or medical organization, including the American Cancer Society, supports routine testing for prostate cancer. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that studies completed so far do not provide enough evidence to know whether the benefits of testing for early prostate cancer outweigh the disadvantages. Still, the American Cancer Society says it believes physicians should offer yearly testing beginning at age 50. For men at high risk, such as black men and men with a strong family history of the cancer, physicians should begin offering testing at age 45, according to the cancer society’s position.
WOMEN
More freedom for midwives
TIP Contact information for all state legislators, including address, phone numbers and e-mail, are provided online at www.legislature.state.al.us If you don’t know who represents your area, visit www. legislature.state.al.us/misc/zipse arch.html. In some cases you will need to know your ninedigit zip code.
Urging annual prostate exams
BILL: SB255 ■ Sponsor: Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham ■ Status: First read March 20 and referred to the health committee.
BILL: HB303 ■ Sponsor: Rep. Ronald Johnson, R-Sylacauga ■ Status: First read March 13 and sent to committee. SB248 ■ Sponsor: Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham ■ Status: First read March 15 and sent to committee.
MAKE YOUR OPINIONS HEARD
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Midwives and their supporters want to deliver babies in homes, but doctors and the Medical Association of the State of Alabama say that’s dangerous. The disagreement comes over a bill sponsored by Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, that would allow midwives to be paid to deliver a baby in a home. Using certified nursemidwives is legal but they usually deliver babies in a hospital birthing center. If the bill passes, the change would be one of location and direct payment to the midwife. Only a handful of midwives practice in Alabama. The Medical Association of the State of Alabama is lobbying against the bill, citing too much risk to mother and child during home births. Physicians say most homes are poorly equipped to deal with dangerous complications in childbirth, compared with hospitals and birthing centers. BILL: HB199 ■ Sponsor: Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville ■ Status: First read March 6 and referred to committee