Department of Health and Human Services May 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the opening of the nomination period for individuals qualified to serve as members of the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) to serve 5-year terms starting in 2018 or 2019.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period.

On November 25, 2016, the Administrator of the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program received a petition (Petition 015) to add neuropathy to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions (List). Upon reviewing the scientific and medical literature, including information provided by the petitioner, the Administrator has determined that the available evidence does not have the potential to provide a basis for a decision on whether to add neuropathy to the List. The Administrator finds that insufficient evidence exists to request a recommendation of the WTC Health Program Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), to publish a proposed rule, or to publish a determination not to publish a proposed rule.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS' intention to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information (including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information) and to allow 60 days for public comment on the proposed action. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding our burden estimates or any other aspect of this collection of information, including the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of draft revisions to the ``FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education for Extended-Release and Long-Acting Opioid Analgesics'' (Blueprint). The Blueprint is part of the FDA-approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for extended release (ER) and long-acting (LA) opioid analgesic medications (ER/LA Opioid Analgesics REMS). FDA is seeking comment on the draft revisions to the Blueprint and has added sections of draft revised Blueprint to the background materials for the public workshop scheduled for May 9-10, 2017. Although the draft revisions to the Blueprint will not be a discussion topic at the workshop, FDA expects the draft revisions to provide important context for discussions during the workshop.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect application-related actions for new animal drug applications (NADAs) and abbreviated new animal drug applications (ANADAs) during January and February 2017. FDA is also informing the public of the availability of summaries of the basis of approval and of environmental review documents, where applicable. The animal drug regulations are also being amended to reflect several changes of sponsorship of applications and to make correcting amendments to improve the accuracy of the regulations.