Journalists attend two-day CDC flu briefing
AHCJ has sponsored 12 journalists to take part in a two-day workshop at the CDC about covering seasonal influenza and the A-H1N1 flu virus, now grabbing the headlines.
The workshop, taking place today and tomorrow, includes a series of on-the-record sessions with CDC experts to prepare front-line journalists for the upcoming flu season. Public health experts are providing a primer on the flu, examine how it is being tracked, expectations for vaccines and antivirals, and what communities can do to deal with the fallout.
On Monday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, joined by CDC director Thomas R. Frieden, was a surprise addition to the schedule.
The AHCJ-sponsored journalists are:
- Erin Allday, San Francisco Chronicle
- Ran An, China Newsweek
- Kim Archer, Tulsa World
- Lorna Benson, Minnesota Public Radio
- Blythe Bernhard, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Don Finley, San Antonio Express-News
- Jeff Hansel, Rochester Post-Bulletin
- Sandra Jordan, St. Louis American
- Alma Martinez, Radio Bilingue
- Pohla Smith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Fred Tasker, The Miami Herald
- Eric Whitney, Colorado Public Radio
Collins unanimously confirmed as head of NIH
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., has been unanimously confirmed as director of the National Institutes of Health, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.
“Dr. Collins is one of our generation’s great scientific leaders. A physician and geneticist, Dr. Collins served as Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, where he led the Human Genome Project to completion,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Dr. Collins will be an outstanding leader. Today is an exciting day for NIH and for science in this country.”
Francis S. Collins
Collins, a geneticist, had received some attention when he was nominated because of his religious beliefs. The evangelical Christian wrote a book, “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.”
Jacob Molyneux, senior editor at the American Journal of Nursing, examined some of what was written about Francis at the time and looked at the then-nominee’s statements and records, including those about the use of embryonic stem cells for research. He concluded that “for Collins, science and the potential for alleviation of human suffering trump moral or religious absolutism and blind adherence to the sanctity of life issue.”
The Los Angeles Times ran a point-counterpoint piece about the topic, Newsweek’s religion editor weighed in, and The New York Times ran an op-ed by an author who is “uncomfortable” with Francis’ nomination. Eric Berger of the Houston Chronicle did a Q&A with Josh Rosenau from the National Center for Science Education, which defends the teaching of evolution in public schools.
Food safety initiatives will be subject of online chat
The Obama administration has created a deputy food commissioner position to coordinate safety in the case of an outbreak of salmonella and is creating a better system to track and identify the origins of foodborne illnesses.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will discuss the initiatives in a live online chat today (July 7) at 2:15 p.m. ET. To participate, visit http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/.
A press release sas that “Sebelius and Vilsack will discuss the continuing work of the Food Safety Working Group - a recently established partnership between HHS and the Department of Agriculture tasked with upgrading food safety laws, fostering coordination throughout government, and ensuring the safety of America’s food supply.”
Tip sheets
Lifting the shroud: Using multiple-cause-of-death data
Melamine: A primer on the contamination of food
AHCJ article
Fatal Food: A study of illness outbreaks
Recent news
Loophole allows E. coli-tainted meat to be sold
Meat, dairy products transported in unsafe temperatures, overlooked by inspectors
Airlines delay testing of onboard water
Salmonella outbreak: A selection of recent stories
N.Y. school districts not meeting federal guidelines on cafeteria inspections
Private companies, not the FDA, increasingly perform food safety inspections
Web sites
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy
Outbreak Alert! Database
Sebelius to present HHS budget at 1 p.m. ET
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will provide an overview of the HHS budget for fiscal year 2010 at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 7. She will be joined by leaders from across the department who will provide a full briefing on the HHS budget after Sebelius delivers remarks.
The briefing will be webcast at www.hhs.gov. All budget-related materials, including the FY 2010 HHS Budget in Brief, will be available online at or shortly after 1 p.m. ET.
Sebelius confirmed as HHS leader
Filed under: Government, Health care reform, Health data, Studies
The Senate approved Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services today.
Several AHCJ members and staff visited Sebelius in Topeka on April 21, 2008, as part of AHCJ's Midwest Health Journalism Program Fellowships.
Some previous coverage of Sebelius’ nomination and other issues:
- Sebelius coverage focuses on experience, abortion
- Sebelius confirmation hearing
- Sebelius to testify at Senate committee hearing
- FDA staff calls for end to corruption, wrongdoing
- Debate roils over effectiveness, ‘rationing’
FDA staff calls for end to corruption, wrongdoing
Scientists and doctors with the FDA have sent a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama calling for “sweeping measures are needed to end the systemic corruption and wrongdoing that permeates all levels of FDA and has plagued the Agency far too long.”
Excerpt of letter send by FDA staff.
The letter, released in conjunction with a Senate finance committee hearing over Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ nomination to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, cites a number of times in which FDA officials rejected the opinions of the scientific staff.
It also details a culture in which the staff feared retaliation for speaking out to the media and to Congress. The letter notes that several FDA officials it says were guilty of wrongdoing have recently left the agency but “the many other FDA managers who have failed to protect the American public, who have violated laws, rules, and regulations, who have suppressed or altered scientific or technological findings and conclusions, who have abused their power and authority, and who have engaged in illegal retaliation against those who speak out, have not been held accountable and remain in place.”
The FDA employees advise the president to take action:
The clearance/approval of medical devices that were not made in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations, need to be re-visited. Furthermore, those FDA employees who have engaged in wrongdoing, who have violated laws, rules, and regulations, who have abused their power and authority, and/or who have engaged in retaliation, should be dealt with swiftly. Immediate and decisive disciplinary action will send a strong message FDA-wide that wrongdoing will no longer be tolerated and those who engage in wrongdoing will be held accountable. Some wrongdoing may be beyond the scope of FDA’s jurisdiction and may need referral to the U.S. Attorney General.
Update
There have been some questions about why the names of the FDA scientists have been blacked out on these letters. Grassley explains in his statement that he did this to protect them from retaliation:
These letters are from a group of nine scientists at the FDA. They are writing for a second time to President Obama today regarding their grave concerns about the FDA. Governor Sebelius, I want to be sure that you aware of these concerns from whistleblowers inside the agency. I also want to note that I am providing copies for the record that do not identify the whistleblowers by name. They are afraid of retaliation particularly in light of the former acting FDA Commissioner’s recent statements and the President’s recent signing statement that seems to limit whistleblower protections.
Sebelius to testify at Senate committee hearing
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is expected to testify in a hearing in front of the Senate finance committee this morning in a hearing to consider her nomination to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Sen. Max Baucus of Montana and Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa are expected to make statements at the hearing.
UPDATE: See webcast of the hearing.
Watch Sebelius confirmation hearing
Sen. Edward Kennedy has opened the confirmation hearing for Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to become the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Opening comments and testimony (PDF) are available.
Sebelius coverage focuses on experience, abortion
She tries to work with both Republicans and Democrats, but is inexperienced when its comes to working with Congress. And her support for abortion rights is a flashpoint that will generate serious protest. These are among the observations from various corners now that President Barack Obama has nominated Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary.
Several AHCJ members and staff visited Sebelius in Topeka on April 21, 2008, as part of AHCJ's Midwest Health Journalism Program Fellowships.
For instance, USA Today points out that Sebelius would bring “expertise as a former state health insurance regulator but not deep ties to the members of Congress who will decide the fate of the president’s health care proposals.” The paper quotes Norman Ornstein of conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute as saying “it’s a tough job for anybody to do right now,” but especially for a Washington outsider. “It’s like suddenly being inserted as quarterback in the second quarter of the Super Bowl, where you know the coach, you know the game, but you haven’t played with this team and you don’t know all the plays.”
On the other hand, CNNPolitics.com notes that Sebelius has “experience working with both Democrats and Republicans in her home state, which could be an asset to President Obama as he embarks on an effort at bipartisanship in reforming health care.”
The experience, however, may have been sobering, according to The New York Times, which pointed out that her “efforts to forge bipartisan consensus have rarely succeeded. She recently observed that the greatest frustration of her six years in office had been her inability to persuade lawmakers to raise tobacco taxes for a modest expansion of government health coverage.”
Meanwhile, The Washington Post writes that Sebelius, who was raised as a Roman Catholic in Ohio, has “endured fierce and often personal criticism from anti-abortion activists largely because she vetoed a bill that would have required doctors who perform late-term abortions to report a reason for the procedure.” The paper adds that, after the veto, the archbishop of Kansas City asked her to stop taking Communion. Underscoring the point, FoxNews.com reports how anti-abortion activists plan to fight her nomination.
Beyond the mainstream, blogs are reacting with passion. Catholic Fire writes that it would “certainly be good to get her out of Kansas.” On the other end of the spectrum, Women’s Voices for Change is thrilled that Sebelius was chosen for HHS and calls her a “Mistress of the Universe,” who is a tough administrator, deeply bipartisan and determined to get things right, even when faced with unpopular choices.
Related
- More news coverage of Sebelius’ nomination
- White House blog post about Sebelius’ nomination
- Sebelius’ official biography
Reports: Kansas governor Sebelius to lead HHS
The Associated Press is reporting that a White House source says Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is President Obama’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The New York Times reports that Sebelius will be introduced by Obama on Monday.
Several AHCJ members and staff visited Sebelius in Topeka on April 21, 2008, as part of AHCJ's Midwest Health Journalism Program Fellowships.
According to AP, “Sebelius drew praise for the consumer watchdog role she played as Kansas insurance commissioner for eight years before she became governor.” Sebelius, an early Obama supporter, is in her second term as governor and cannot seek a third term.
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Health Journalism 2010, AHCJ's annual conference, features a world-class program with story ideas, sources, stronger reporting skills, chances to meet newsmakers and network with other journalists.
- Health and education: Covering these intersecting beats
- Reporting on the business of health care
- Health reporting resources for journalists on state and local government beats
- Shortened Lives: How location, lifestyle affect health
- Covering a complex story for the long haul
- Aging in the 21st Century: Presentations and tip sheets
- AHCJ calls for better information from Joint Commission Web site
