Department of Health and Human Services May 1, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the regulatory review period for ARTEFILL and is publishing this notice of that determination as required by law. FDA has made the determination because of the submission of an application to the Director of Patents and Trademarks, Department of Commerce, for the extension of a patent which claims that medical device.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulation authorizing a health claim on the relationship between soluble fiber from certain foods and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). The amendment exempts certain foods from the nutrient content requirement of ``low fat.'' The exemption will apply if the food exceeds the ``low fat'' requirement due to fat content derived from whole oat sources. The amendment expands the use of this health claim to some whole oat products that are currently ineligible for the health claim. FDA is taking this action in response to a petition submitted by the Quaker Oats Co.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice concerning the final effect of the HHS decision to designate a class of employees at Combustion Engineering, Windsor, Connecticut, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On March 3, 2008, as provided for under 42 U.S.C. 7384q(b), the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice concerning the final effect of the HHS decision to designate a class of employees at the Mound Plant, near Dayton, Ohio, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On March 3, 2008, as provided for under 42 U.S.C. 7384q(b), the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

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.

This proposed rule proposes the hospice wage index for fiscal year 2009. This proposed rule also proposes to phase-out the Medicare hospice budget neutrality adjustment factor and clarify two wage index issues, pertaining to the definition of rural and urban areas and to multi-campus hospital facilities.