Advocacy in Action: Opioid Legislation, EDCs, and More

Here is a quick rundown of major issues being discussed by policymakers from an endocrine perspective and the Society’s current advocacy work. 

What’s Happening in Washington:  Lots of political distractions and drama in the Capital:

Funding Bill Progress – The Senate approved the FY 2019 Labor-HHS/Defense funding bill with the $2 billion increase for the NIH.  The House of Representatives plans on voting (and passing) next week, then on to the president’s desk.

Funding for Unaccompanied Children at Borders – This week it became clear that the Secretary of Health & Human Services plans to transfer $266 million from other HHS accounts to increase the budget to care for unaccompanied alien children at the borders.  This has caused an uproar among the public health and medical research communities who recognize the immediate need to care for these children, but dispute the practice of depleting already underfunded public health and research programs and have called on the administration to identify other funding options.

Opioid Legislation – There is still hope that legislation to address the opioid crisis could be finished this fall.  House leaders are considering using the pending bill to tinker with Medicare and roll back financial requirements for the drug industry that Congress imposed earlier this year. Those changes helped close the so-called “doughnut hole” coverage gap for Medicare beneficiaries a year ahead of schedule. Under the gap, Medicare plans cover a certain amount of spending on drugs up to a certain limit, and then patients would pay out of pocket above that threshold until higher catastrophic coverage levels kicked in.  The budget deal, however, required drug makers and insurance plans to pay the costs of any drugs in that gap, starting in 2019. The drug industry would have to pay for 70% of the cost, up from the 50% previously required. That would decrease how much Medicare plans paid. The drug industry is seeking to reduce the percentage they pay to 63%, with health insurers paying the rest.  It looks like Congress would agree.

What We are Working on:

Getting Clarity on EDCs –

We are closely following the release of information for the Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on BPA Toxicity (CLARITY-BPA) and how the results of the Core Study are being presented.  On September 14, the FDA released a premature statement announcing the “results” of the Core Study and indicating that BPA is still safe for consumers.  We disagree and are concerned FDA omits the fact that the academic studies still need to be integrated with the Core Study report and that there is disagreement over whether the FDA’s study was correctly analyzed and interpreted.  We will push FDA to clarify its messaging and ask peer reviewers to closely examine several scientific issues in the Core Study.

Meanwhile, EDC Task Force member Heather Patisaul attended the EFSA 2018 “Science-Food-Society” conference in Parma, Italy as a representative of the Endocrine Society.  Her presence during presentations by the FDA and National Toxicology Program had an impact on attendees’ appreciation and understanding of the CLARITY-BPA presentations and why integration with academic studies is critical. Heather discussed the project and outcomes with conference attendees and shared how CLARITY and other newly published scientific studies will be important to include during EFSA’s reevaluation of BPA.

We are hearing that the European Commission is making progress towards a new strategy on EDCs, and we anticipate more action this coming Fall.  The Endocrine Society’s involvement this process, including our contribution to the draft Roadmap, was instrumental in keeping pressure on the Commission so that EDCs remain a priority and policymakers and regulators work towards reducing exposure to EDCs and improving public health.

Women’s Health Month – The Society continues to promote Women’s Health Month with a series of Twitter chats to discuss the scientific discoveries in hormone science driving clinical health breakthroughs. The second in the Society’s series of Twitter chats occurred this week and focused on oncofertility and infertility.  See here for a list of future Twitter chats. For more information about our advocacy and women’s health, see our topic page.

To find out how you can become more involved in endocrine advocacy, please contact [email protected].