The U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released updated joint guidance today addressing the application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule to records maintained on students. ...
On Thursday, December 17, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine made by Merck for the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, which caused more than 11,000 deaths during the 2014 West Africa outbreak and has caused more than 2,000 deaths in the current outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), has entered into a Voluntary Resolution Agreement (VRA) with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (PaDHS). The VRA resolves a compliance review and two complaint investigations, respectively, involving access to certain PaDHS health and welfare programs by individuals with limited English ...
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the first Project BioShield contract to fund the advanced development needed to support the expanded use of an existing antibiotic to treat exposure to inhalational anthrax. Under the contract, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Office of the ...
Today, President Trump, along with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that, if finalized, would allow for the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada. In addition, the Administration is announcing the availability of a new draft guidance for ...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today took major steps to increase the availability of organs for the 113,000 Americans on waitlists for lifesaving organ transplants – 20 of whom die each day. As directed by President Trump in his July 10 Executive Order on Advancing American Kidney Health, the Centers for ...
Today, the United States Senate voted, 72-18, to confirm Dr. Stephen Hahn as Commissioner of Food and Drugs. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar issued the following statement: “I congratulate Dr. Hahn and thank the Senate for prioritizing his nomination. President Trump has chosen a superbly qualified leader for FDA, and Dr. Hahn garnered ...
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is announcing its second enforcement action and settlement under its HIPAA1 Right of Access Initiative. OCR announced this initiative earlier this year promising to vigorously enforce the rights of patients to get access to their medical records promptly, without being ...
Secretary Alex Azar issued the following statement on the retirement of Joanne Chiedi, the Department’s Acting Inspector General (effective December 31): “Joanne Chiedi has been a respected and valued member of the HHS team since 2010, and I appreciate her selfless contributions to HHS and the American people during her 37 years of federal service. ...
In the coming days, Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan will lead the U.S. delegation to the Sultanate of Oman to attend the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Independent High-level Commission on non-communicable diseases (NCD) on behalf of the Trump Administration. To further this work, Deputy Secretary Hargan will be accompanied by staff from ...
