We’re Speaking Out on Health Issues

NCHR scientists and health policy experts provide written and oral statements on a wide range of topics.

Here are many of the ways we have been Speaking Out on Health Policy Issues for the last few years. Whether the topic is legislation intended to cure diseases, proposed bans on BPA or other chemicals that disrupt your hormones, the importance of including women, people of color, and patients over 65 in clinical trials, or many other topics, you’ll gain a better understanding of our evidence-based analyses by reading these letters, statements, and testimony.

Here are the ways we have been Speaking out on Medical Treatments and Products, such as prescription drugs and medical devices that the FDA is considering approving, or is considering taking off the market because of serious risks. Whether the topic is Chantix, Addyi, Yaz, Essure, or medical products you’ve never heard of, you can find out more about what is known and not known about the safety and effectiveness of a wide range of products by looking through this section of our website.

NCHR Testifies Before Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee on Heart Failure Drug

Dr. Ealena Callender of National Center for Health Research tells Dec. 2022 FDA Advisory Committee to require better research on OM heart failure drug due to lack of evidence of efficacy and concerns about safety due to toxicity.

NCHR Letter to Senate HELP and House Energy & Commerce Committees Regarding the VALID Act

December 14, 2022: We strongly support the inclusion of the VALID Act in the year-end omnibus spending package. This important bill will provide the FDA with the authority and resources necessary to ensure that the highest-risk diagnostic tests are valid and reliable.

National Center for Health Research Comment on Safety Standards for Gates and Enclosures to the Consumer Product Safety Commission

December 14, 2022: NCHR supports CPSC’s plan to revise section ASTM F1004-22 of the mandatory standards for safety gates and enclosures to include a specific warning about the installation of wall cups. Gates and enclosures that use wall cups for mounting can break or unlatch if not installed properly which can result in falls, choking, and strangulations. A mandatory warning label that specifically addresses these concerns will alert parents to the need for proper installation of these gates and enclosures but we urge CPSC to make this mandatory label also present on the outside packaging of gates and enclosures.

NCHR’s Comment on the Draft IRIS Assessment Plan and Protocol for Assessing Cancer Risk from Inhalation Exposure to Cobalt and Cobalt Compounds

NCHR supports the EPA’s decision to assess the risk for cancer from inhalation exposure to cobalt and cobalt compounds. Other health organizations recognize that cobalt is a likely human carcinogen based on animal studies, and it is important for the EPA to investigate if the same link extends to humans as well. An analysis of the evidence is needed to understand the upper-dose limit and how to prevent dangerous exposures to cobalt and cobalt compounds. By providing these results, we hope organizations create guidelines and requirements that the industry must follow to protect worker’s health and well-being of the public.

NCHR encourages WSPI to do more to prevent long-term impact of diabetes in pregnancy

December 8, 2022: The National Center for Health Research (NCHR) agrees with the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI) 2022 recommendations for diabetes screening after pregnancy. WPSI encourages continued diligence during the postpartum period in patients who were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus during pregnancy. That’s important because gestational diabetes increases a patient’s chances of developing type 2 diabetes.