Regulatory/Legislative News

Health care in the United States will need continued innovation and a commitment to improvement from legislators and industry alike for a sustainable future, Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said at the OCTANe Ophthalmology Technology Summit.

The Trump administration has named Georgia health commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, to be the next CDC director.

An investigational drug from ProQR for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa associated with Usher syndrome has received orphan drug designation from the FDA and the European Medicines Agency, according to a company press release.

Vision screenings and vision health care, especially for children, should continue to be treated as an essential health benefit, a speaker said at the Prevent Blindness 2017 Focus on Eye Health National Summit in Washington, D.C.

The most frequently viewed ophthalmology articles on Healio.com/OSN in June included journal summaries, FDA approvals and shakeups in business leadership.

President Donald J. Trump has nominated Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, who has advocated for needle exchange programs, to be the next U.S. Surgeon General.

The cost savings that would be realized under the Senate’s proposed health care bill would have a dramatic negative effect on the quality of health care offered in the United States, according to policy experts and physicians.

As part of its effort to increase competition in the prescription drug market, the FDA released a list of drugs that are off-patent and off-exclusivity without approved generics and produced a revised manual of policies and procedures for review of abbreviated new drug applications, including prioritization for generic products.

A marketing authorization application has been filed to the European Medicines Agency for the approval to market Durasert 3-year treatment for posterior segment uveitis, according to a pSivida press release.

The FDA has approved the cryopreserved formulation of ReNeuron Group’s human retinal progenitor cell therapeutic candidate, according to a company press release.