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Basic Patient Safety Reforms Would Save 85,000 Lives and $35 Billion a Year, Public Citizen Report Says

Excerpt: A report issued [August 6] by Public Citizen proposes 10 cost-cutting, patient safety measures that would save an estimated 85,000 lives and $35 billion a year. The report, 'Back to Basics,' analyzed the results of scientific studies of treatment protocols for chronically recurring, avoidable medical errors. In contrast to the high-tech tests and procedures that many experts blame for staggering increases in the nation's health care costs, most of the reforms in Public Citizen's report involve fundamentals as simple as practitioners consistently washing their hands, sufficiently tending to patients to prevent bed sores, and following simple safety checklists to prevent infections and complications stemming from operations. Aside from the tragedy of needless deaths and injuries, the financial toll of failing to follow accepted safety procedures is astounding.

High Time for Citizen-Initiated Public Pension Reform in Oregon

"Oregonians should discuss PERS-reform options that they, as citizen legislators, can enact.... Why not think beyond the incremental changes to which the Legislature is best suited and consider creating a pure defined-contribution plan for new PERS members? ... Present-day Oregonians may find themselves stuck with a cripplingly expensive pension plan whose costs they have virtually no ability to control. The least we can do in that case is spare the next generation or two from the same fate."

Trump's 2-for-1 Regulatory Reduction Challenged in Court

"President Donald Trump's Executive Order requiring two regulations be repealed for every new one adopted and related OMB guidance have been challenged in a law suit ... by Public Citizen, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Communications Workers of America.... The complaint alleges that the agencies cannot lawfully comply with the president's order because doing so would violate the statutes under which the agencies operate and the Administrative Procedure Act." [Public Citizen v. Trump, No. 17-253 (complaint filed Feb. 8, 2017)]

the Case Against Relying on HMOs and Private Insurers to Offer Prescription Drug Coverage (PDF)

Excerpt: This Public Citizen report uses recent authoritative research on the Medicare program and its beneficiaries' experiences with HMOs (Medicare+Choice plans) and private indemnity insurance to demonstrate why it would be a mistake for Congress to rely on private plans, rather than the Medicare program, to offer prescription drug coverage.

Testimony on Healthcare Access for Veterans

Excerpt: In my written testimony, I present detailed information on the health insurance coverage and problems in access to health care of America's veterans, based on a study done in conjunction with Pubic Citizen.

Proposed Legislation Would Lower U.S. Prescription Prices

"Among other reforms, the [Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act] would curb the monopoly abuses of pharmaceutical corporations that keep prices high, penalize companies that engage in price gouging, finally allow Medicare to negotiate fair prices for seniors, cap out-of-pocket medicine costs in health insurance plans and require transparency from the pharmaceutical industry."

Group Letter to SEC Urging Issuance of Regs for Dodd-Frank Executive Compensation Provisions (PDF)

"As the Commission drafts its proposed rule, we ask that the following be incorporated. [1] Empower shareholder oversight of claw back practices by requiring that claw backs be disclosed.... [2] Require claw back of proportional incentive compensation where it is not numerically connected to financial results.... [3] Identify 'executive officers' as those provided under the SEC's Rule 16a-1(f).... [4] Identify the date triggering the three-year look back as the date of the first accounting misstatement."

New Rule Would Stop Financial Advisers from Misleading Clients

"Working-class and middle-class families lose $17 billion a year in hidden fees and sales commissions that do nothing but line the pockets of unscrupulous advisers, according to a report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers.... [We] expect that Wall Street's lobbyists in Washington will do everything they can to stop [the new rule] from being finalized, but Main Street shouldn't lose out on savings just because Wall Street wants to continue misbehaving."

A Small Loophole Inserted 20 Years Ago Helps Companies Avoid Paying the U.S. Treasury Big Money (PDF)

"The top 20 highest-paid CEOs in the most recent version of the AFL-CIO's annual list of highest-paid CEOs were paid base salaries totaling $28 million, but had performance-based, tax-deductible compensation totaling more than $738 million. Assuming that these CEOs' companies paid a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, tax-deductible performance-based compensation for these CEOs cost American taxpayers as much as $235 million in lost tax revenue."

Testimony of Sidney M. Wolfe M.D. on Behind-the-Counter Availability of Certain Drugs

Excerpt: The current push for a behind-the-counter class was precipitated by drug companies who make statins and want to switch them to OTC. I have testified twice already and I'm going to testify next month for a third time opposing statins becoming OTC.