Health and Science

Some Bills Introduced: A bill to ensure the safety of cosmetics; banning the use of intentionally added perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances in cosmetics; expanding the membership of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include veterans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, gender non-conforming, intersex, or queer; mammography screening for veterans who served in locations associated with toxic exposure; providing coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses following a mastectomy; A bill to improve social security benefits for widows and widowers in two-income households   Weekly Legislative Update June 21, 2021  … more »

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration amended safety regulations in 2019. Stakeholders told us the changes could improve safety without presenting significant challenges. However, several operators said they would need to modify or replace pipelines to accommodate certain inspection tools. The agency hasn't developed measures to assess whether the changes improve safety. We recommended doing so. GAO-21-493 Published: Jun 22, 2021. Publicly Released: Jun 22, 2021.     Jump To HIGHLIGHTS RECOMMENDATIONS FULL REPORT GAO CONTACTS   Fast Facts The U.S. hazardous liquid pip… more »

Results from a Phase 3 clinical trial enrolling 29,960 adult volunteers in the United States and Mexico show that the investigational vaccine known as NVX-CoV2373 demonstrated 90.4% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease. The candidate showed 100% protection against moderate and severe disease. In people at high risk of developing complications from COVID-19 (people 65 years or older and people under age 65 with certain comorbidities or with likely regular exposure to COVID-19), the vaccine showed 91.0% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease. more »

"The question of what would happen when a new, expensive prescription drug comes to market for a disease like Alzheimer’s that afflicts millions of people has loomed large in discussions over drug prices in the U.S.— and now we’re about to find out. After a nearly 20-year dry spell in new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved a new Alzheimer’s medication, Aduhelm (aducanumab), developed by Biogen, with an expected annual price tag of $56,000. While the scientific community debates the evidence of the effectiveness of this new drug, the FDA’s decision raises hope for Alzheimer’s patients and their families, along with serious cost concerns for patients and payers, particularly Medicare." more »