Advocacy Articles
Updates about legislative and regulatory issues impacting the field of sleep medicine
On Tuesday, May 10, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed House Bill 560 (HB 560) and Senate Bill 641 (SB 641) into law. The bills, which have identical language, delay the licensing of sleep technologists until Oct. 1, 2013.
The AASM submitted comments to the Federal Railroad Administration on the proposed modification of duty hours for train employees who provide commuter and intercity rail passenger transportation. The AASM cautioned that hours of duty limitations also are necessary for other train employees; fatigue from inadequate sleep can affect the performance of personnel who provide critical maintenance and oversight, which also increases the risk of accidents.
The bill establishes a scope of practice for sleep technology and establishes the licensure and registration requirements for a sleep technologist, technician and trainee in the District of Columbia. The Board, along with the newly created Advisory Committee on Polysomnography comprised of physicians and sleep technologists, was directed to develop the education and training standards for regulating the practice.
The report evaluated the state of efforts to measure child and adolescent health and the quality of their health care services. The report concluded that the lack of standardization between data sets, as well as the lack of information on physical and social environments, limits researchers' ability to accurately assess the data.
The notice indicates that NIH has been allocated a budget of $30.9 billion, which is nearly one percent less than the total fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget authority level of $31.2 billion. As a result, the NIH will implement reductions in commitment levels for non-competing research awards.
The workshop outlines specific scientific priorities in the areas of sleep, circadian and neuroendocrine mechanisms of energy metabolism; cardiovascular and SDB pathophysiology; and intermediate molecular markers of CVD and SDB. To view the executive summary, login and read the full article.
The AASM is conducting a Congressional Forum on Sleep Medicine in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, May 4, from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. to educate lawmakers and their staff in the U.S. House of Representatives on the importance of effective sleep and the essential role of the sleep medicine and sleep research communities. To ensure that the forum is well attended, the AASM is asking members to contact the D.C. office of your elected official in the U.S. House of Representatives to discuss this forum and urge his or her attendance. The AASM has provided a script (available within the article) that you can use when making phone calls and sending follow-up emails.
The next in-person, public meeting of the Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board (SDRAB), which is an advisory committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), will be held Friday, April 29, 2011, on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Campus in Bethesda, Md., Building 31, C wing, Room 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of Horizant Extended Release Tablets, a once-daily treatment for moderate to severe restless legs syndrome (RLS). Horizant is the third drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of moderate to severe RLS, joining Requip and Mirapex.
Results of a poll commissioned by Research!America show that 78 percent of Americans think federal funding for health research is important for job creation and the economy.