Browsing by keyword "United States Dept. of Health and Human Services"

Now showing items 1-3 of 3

    • State and federal compliance with the Synar amendment: federal fiscal year 1997
      DiFranza, Joseph R. (2000-09-12)
      BACKGROUND: The Synar Amendment requires states and territories to enact a law prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors and to enforce that law in a manner that could reasonably be expected to decrease the availability of tobacco to minors. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and applicant states and territories are complying with the Synar Amendment. DATA SOURCES: Block grant applications from 59 states and territories describing activities during federal fiscal year 1997. MEASURES: Whether applicants had enacted a tobacco sales law without loopholes, conducted enforcement inspections, penalized violators, and conducted a valid statewide survey with violation rates below the permissible threshold, and whether DHHS actions were consistent with the statutory requirements of the Synar Amendment. RESULTS: Three applicants had laws containing loopholes, 8 failed to conduct enforcement inspections, 8 failed to prosecute violators, 6 failed to conduct a valid survey, and 8 failed to demonstrate compliance with violation rate targets. Fifteen applicants failed 1 or more criteria, but none was ultimately penalized by DHHS. Fourteen sources of bias were identified in state survey protocols that could substantially lower reported violation rates. CONCLUSIONS: A few states did a remarkable job with enforcement, while many others made little effort. Because the DHHS regulations are so weak and DHHS is willing to accept biased surveys, states can be in full compliance with the regulations without ever enforcing their laws or having any impact on the availability of tobacco to minors.

    • The new research ethic: will oversight requirements sink forensic research
      Candilis, Philip J.; Arikan, Rasim; Noone, Sheila B.; Holzer, Jacob C. (2005-09-28)
      The conduct of research with human participants is facing increased scrutiny from government, media, and academic sources. Research oversight is consequently increasing dramatically as education and accreditation movements gain momentum. Institutional review boards themselves are undergoing significant changes in organization and accountability, implementing new tools to monitor investigator compliance. This article describes the causes of recent calls for increased scrutiny, the resultant trends in research oversight, and the general lack of preparation for increased costs in the public sector. These are costs that will be felt acutely in the forensic setting as diminishing state budgets affect hospitals, universities, and correctional institutions.

    • Tobacco control competencies for US medical students
      Geller, Alan C.; Zapka, Jane G.; Brooks, Katie R.; Dube, Catherine; Powers, Catherine A.; Rigotti, Nancy A.; O'Donnell, Joseph; Ockene, Judith K. (2005-06-01)
      The 2004 National Action Plan for Tobacco Cessation recommended that the US Department of Health and Human Services convene a diverse group of experts to ensure that competency in tobacco dependence interventions be a core graduation requirement for all new physicians and other key health care professionals. Core competencies would guide the design of new modules and explicitly outline the learning objectives for all graduating medical students.In 2002, the National Cancer Institute funded a consortium to develop, test, and integrate tobacco curricula at 12 US medical schools. Because there was neither an explicit set of tobacco competencies for medical schools nor a process to develop them, one of the consortium's tasks was to articulate competencies and learning objectives.