Office of the Secretary August 14, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This interim final rule implements a prospective payment system for hospital outpatient services similar to that furnished to Medicare beneficiaries, as set forth in section 1833(t) of the Social Security Act. The rule also recognizes applicable statutory requirements and changes arising from Medicare's continuing experience with this system including certain related provisions of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. The Department is publishing this rule as an interim final rule to implement existing statutory requirements for adoption of Medicare payment methods for institutional care. Interim final rule publication will ensure the expeditious implementation of a proven hospital OPPS, providing incentives for hospitals to furnish outpatient services in an efficient and effective manner. However, public comments are invited and will be considered for possible revisions to the final rule.

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), the Assistant Secretary for Health, and another Federal agency have taken final action in the following case: Juan Carlos Jorge-Rivera, Ph.D., Dartmouth College: Based on the findings of an inquiry conducted by Dartmouth College, an investigation conducted by another Federal agency, and additional analysis conducted by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) during its oversight review, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Juan Carlos Jorge- Rivera, Ph.D., former postdoctoral fellow, Department of Physiology, Dartmouth College, engaged in misconduct in science in research funded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant R01 NS28668. Specifically, Dr. Jorge-Rivera knowingly and intentionally falsified amplifier gain in at least eleven (11) experiments of his postdoctoral research aimed at measuring the effects of anabolic steroids on GABAnergic current in brain cells and reported the falsified data in Figures 4 and 6 of the following paper: Jorge-Rivera, J.C., McIntyre, K.L., & Henderson, L.P. ``Anabolic steroids induce region- and subunit-specific modulations of GABA receptor mediated currents in the rat forebrain.'' Journal of Neurophysiology 83:3299- 3309, 2000. Dr. Jorge-Rivera has been debarred by the Federal agency with joint jurisdiction for a period of two (2) years, beginning on January 11, 2007, and ending on January 11, 2009. ORI has implemented the following administrative actions: (1) For a period of three (3) years, beginning on June 23, 2007, and ending on June 22, 2010, Dr. Jorge-Rivera is prohibited from serving in any advisory capacity to PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant; and (2) for a period of three (3) years, beginning at the end of his debarment period (January 11, 2009), and ending on January 10, 2012, Dr. Jorge-Rivera must submit, in conjunction with each application for PHS funds, annual reports, manuscripts, or abstracts of PHS-funded research in which he is involved, a certification that the data he provides are based on actual experiments or are otherwise legitimately derived and that the data, procedures, and methodology are accurately reported in the application or report.

Under the provisions of Executive Order 13426, the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, (5 U.S.C. Appendix, as amended), the Sunshine in the Government Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3.55, the Department of Defense gives notice that it is terminating the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors on August 30, 2007. The President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, pursuant to section 6, of Executive Order 13426, is terminated 30 days after it submits its report to the President through the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, which submitted its report to the President on July 30, 2007, was chartered to: 1. Examine the effectiveness of returning wounded service members' transition from deployment in support of the Global War on Terror to successful return to productive military service or civilian society, and recommend needed improvements; 2. Evaluate the coordination, management, and adequacy of the delivery of health care, disability, traumatic injury, education, employment, and other benefits and services to returning wounded Global War on Terror service members by Federal agencies as well as the private sector, and recommend ways to ensure that programs provide high-quality services; 3. (a) Analyze the effectiveness of existing outreach to service members regarding such benefits and services, and service members' level of awareness of an ability to access these benefits and services, (b) identify ways to reduce barriers to and gaps in the benefits and services; and 4. Consult with foundations, veterans service organizations, non- profit groups, faith-based organizations, and others as appropriate, in performing the Commission's functions. The President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors' final report, title ``Serve, Support, Simplify'', contains the six recommendations and can be viewed at the Commission's Web site: https://www.pccww.gov/. Pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.175(a), the Department of Defense, no later than July 30, 2008, shall submit a follow-up report on the recommendations made by the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors. This report will be submitted to the congressional oversight committees, the Committee Management Secretariat for the General Services Administration, and the Library of Congress.