Department of Health and Human Services July 22, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains an amendment to the interim final regulation that implements the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) to conform the sunset date of the regulation to the sunset date of the statute under legislation passed by the 108th Congress.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

The inventions described below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 in association with collaborative research via a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health. This opportunity is being offered to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

Under provisions of Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review and approval of the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on September 9, 2003, pages 53176-53177, and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The National Institutes of Health may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Proposed Collection: Title: The National Diabetes Educations Program Survey of the Public. Type of Information Collection Request: New. Need and Use of Information Collection: The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is a partnership of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and more than 200 public and private organizations. The long-term goals of the NDEP are to improve the treatment and health outcomes of people with diabetes, to promote early diagnosis, and, ultimately, to prevent the onset of diabetes. The NDEP objectives are: (1) To increase awareness of the seriousness of diabetes, its risk factors, and strategies for preventing diabetes and its complications among people at risk for diabetes; (2) to improve understanding about diabetes and its control and to promote better self-management behaviors among people with diabetes; (3) to improve health care providers' understanding of diabetes and its control and to promote an integrated approach to care; (4) to promote health care policies that improve the quality of and access to diabetes care. Multiple strategies have been devised to address the NDEP objectives. These have been described in the NDEP Strategic Plan and include: (1) Creating partnerships with other organizations concerned about diabetes; (2) developing and implementing awareness and education activities with special emphasis on reaching the racial and ethnic populations disproportionately affected by diabetes; (3) identifying, developing, and disseminating educational tools and resources for the program's diverse audiences; (4) promoting policies and activities to improve the quality of and access to diabetes care. The NDEP evaluation will document the extent to which the NDEP program has been implemented, and how successful it has been in meeting program objectives. The evaluation relies heavily on data gathered from existing national surveys such as National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), among others for this information. This clearance request is for the collection of additional primary data from NDEP target audiences on some key process and impact measures that are necessary to effectively evaluate the program. Approval is requested for survey of the public including people at risk for diabetes, people with diabetes and their families. Frequency of Response: On occasion. Affected Public: Individuals or households. Type of Respondents: Adults. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 1600; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; Average Burden Hours per Response: .25; and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 400. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at: $8,000.00. There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) announces the availability of funds in fiscal year 2005 for the award of one grant on a competitive basis to operate a national, toll-free telephone hotline to provide information and assistance to victims of domestic violence.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a guidance for industry entitled ``Estimating the Maximum Safe Starting Dose in Initial Clinical Trials for Therapeutics in Adult Healthy Volunteers.'' This guidance provides a description and basis for a process by which to select a maximum recommended starting dose (MRSD) for a first-in-human clinical trial of a therapeutic in adult healthy volunteers.

This notice announces a quarterly meeting of the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council (the Council). The Council will be meeting to discuss certain proposed changes in regulations and carrier manual instructions related to physicians' services, as identified by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (the Secretary). This meeting is open to the public. In addition, this notice invites all organizations representing physicians to submit nominations for consideration to fill four seats that will be vacated by current Council members in 2006.

This notice announces a public meeting of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC). The Committee provides advice and recommendations about whether scientific evidence is adequate to determine whether certain medical items and services are reasonable and necessary under the Medicare statute. This meeting concerns the treatments for bone fractures that fail to progress to union. Notice of this meeting is given under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2, section 10(a)).