License terms for medical use licenses--NRC. Final rule

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations pertaining to the medical use of byproduct material to eliminate the 5-year term limit for medical use licenses. License terms for licenses issued under these regulations will be set by policy. Other materials licenses are issued for up to 10 years. The NRC will issue some licenses for shorter terms if warranted by the individual circumstances of license applicants. The amendment reduces the administrative burden of license renewals on a 5-year cycle for both NRC and licensees and supports NRC's goal of streamlining the licensing process.     

Medical use of byproduct material; policy statement, revision. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Final policy statement; revision

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is revising its 1979 policy statement on the medical use of byproduct material. These revisions are one component of the Commission's overall program for revising its regulatory framework for medical use, including its regulations that govern the medical use of byproduct material. The overall goals of this program are to focus NRC regulation of medical use on those medical procedures that pose the highest risk and to structure its regulations to be risk-informed and more performance-based, consistent with NRC's "Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 1997-Fiscal Year 2002." The policy informs NRC licensees, other Federal and State agencies, and the public of the Commission's general intentions in regulating the medical use of byproduct material.     

Medical use of byproduct material; draft policy statement--NRC. draft policy statement

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing, for formal comment, revisions of its 1979 policy statement on the medical use of byproduct material. These proposed revisions are one component of the Commission's overall program, as previously announced in the Federal Register, for revising its regulatory framework for medical use, including its regulations that govern the medical use of byproduct material. The overall goals of this program are to focus NRC regulation of medical use on those medical procedures that pose the highest risk and to structure its regulations to be risk-informed and performance-based, where appropriate, consistent with NRC's "Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 1970 Fiscal Year 2002".     

Medical use of byproduct material; proposed revision--NRC. Proposal rule

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing a revision of its regulations governing the medical use of byproduct material. The proposed rule is one component of the Commission's overall program for revising its regulatory framework for medical use. The overall goals of this program are to focus NRC's regulations on those medical procedures that pose the highest risk to workers, patients, and the public, and to structure its regulations to be risk-informed and more performance-based, consistent with the NRC's "Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 1997-Fiscal Year 2002". A notice in this issue of the Federal Register announcing the Commission's proposed revision of its 1979 "Medical use Policy Statement" for public comment is published elsewhere.     

Minor corrections, clarifying changes, and a minor policy change--NRC. Final rule

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations to make minor corrections and clarifying changes to the NRC's 10 CFR Part 20, "Standards for Protection Against Radiation." The final rule is also intended to conform other regulations with the Commission's 1991 revised radiation protection requirements. In addition, the final rule includes a minor policy change that raises the monitoring criteria for minors from 0.05 rem (0.5 mSv) to 0.1 rem (1 mSv) in a year and for declared pregnant women from 0.05 rem (0.5 mSv) to 0.1 rem (1 mSv) during their pregnancies. The 0.1 rem (1 mSv) in a year deep dose equivalent monitoring criterion is consistent with the public dose limit and represents a quantity more consistent with the measurement sensitivity of individual personnel dosimetry. Licensees are still required to ensure that the occupational dose limit of 0.5 rem (5 mSv) in a year is not exceeded for minors, that the dose limit of 0.5 rem (5 mSv) to an embryo/fetus due to occupational exposure of a declared pregnant woman is not exceeded during the course of the pregnancy, and that sufficient effort is made to ensure that substantial variations above a uniform monthly exposure rate for a declared pregnant woman are avoided. These changes to the threshold for monitoring exposures to radiation and radioactive material to demonstrate compliance with the limits do not change the occupational dose limits for minors or declared pregnant workers.     

License term for medical use licenses--NRC. Proposed rule

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend 10 CFR part 35 to eliminate the five-year term limit for medical use licenses in 10 CFR 35.18. License terms for licenses issued pursuant to part 35 would be set, by policy up to ten years, as are the license terms for other materials licenses. The NRC would issue some licenses for shorter terms, if warranted by the individual circumstances of license applicants. The amendment would reduce the administrative burden of license renewals for both NRC and licensees, and would support NRC's goal of streamlining the licensing process.     

Medical use of byproduct material: issues and request for public input--NRC. Request for public input on rule development

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed a program for revising the regulations governing the medical use of byproduct material. The decision to revise this regulation resulted from the NRC Strategic Assessment and Rebaselining Initiative (SA), a process involving identification of the direction-setting issues and associated options for the future of NRC activities. This notice describes the NRC's program for revising the medical use regulation; notifies the public of the availability of documents associated with this action on the NRC Technical Conference Forum and through the NRC Public Document Room; and solicits informal public input on development of proposed rule language and associated documents. The Commission plans to formally propose specific rulemaking text for public comment during summer of 1998.     

Medicare program; qualified health maintenance organizations: technical amendments--HCFA. Final rule with comment period

This rule clarifies and updates portions of the HCFA regulations that pertain to Federal qualification and continued regulation of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), inclusion of qualified HMOs in employee health benefits plans, and the administration of outstanding loans and loan guarantees that were awarded before October 1, 1986, under the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act). This rule is part of a special project to clarify and update all of 42 CFR part 417, which contains the regulations applicable to all entities that provide prepaid health care, that is, HMOs, CMPs (competitive medical plans) and HCPPs (health care prepayment plans). These are technical and editorial changes that do not affect the substance of the regulations. They are intended to make it easier to find particular provisions, to provide overviews of the different program aspects, and to better ensure uniform understanding of the rules.     

Medicare program; clarification of Medicare's accrual basis of accounting policy--HCFA. Final rule

This final rule revises the Medicare regulations to clarify the concept of "accrual basis of accounting" to indicate that expenses must be incurred by a provider of health care services before Medicare will pay its share of those expenses. This rule does not signify a change in policy but, rather, incorporates into the regulations Medicare's longstanding policy regarding the circumstances under which we recognize, for the purposes of program payment, a provider's claim for costs for which it has not actually expended funds during the current cost reporting period.     

Elimination of co-payment for weight management counseling. Direct final rule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking direct action to amend its medical regulations concerning co-payments for inpatient hospital care and outpatient medical care. More specifically, this rule designates weight management counseling (individual and group sessions) as a service that is not subject to co-payment requirements. The intended effect of this direct final rule is to increase participation in weight management counseling by removing the co-payment barrier. This direct final rule also amends the medical regulations by making nonsubstantive changes to correct references to statutory provisions.     

Revised standards for protection against radiation; minor amendments--NRC. Final rule: minor corrective and conforming amendments

This final rule makes a number of minor corrective and conforming amendments to the NRC's revised standards for protection against radiation. The final rule is necessary to correct recently discovered errors in the text of the revised standards, to conform portions of regulatory text to the Commission's decision to defer mandatory implementation of the revised standards until 1994, and to reflect the recent OMB approval of the use of NRC Forms 4 and 5.     

Infectious substances--DOT. Final rule

RSPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in December 1994 that proposed to revise the regulations pertaining to infectious substances, including regulated medical waste (RMW). In this final rule, RSPA is revising requirements for Division 6.2 materials (infectious substances). This rule clarifies the scope of regulation for infectious substances, provides relief for certain shipments of RMW that conform to other Federal agency regulations, allows certain quantities of RMW to be transported by aircraft, and makes other changes to clarify regulatory provisions applicable to infectious substances. This rulemaking action is necessary to ensure that the regulations for infectious substances and regulated medical waste are cost effective and provide an adequate level of safety in transportation.     

Rural Development Loan Fund--Office of Community Services. HHS. Proposed rule

The Secretary of Health and Human Services proposes new regulations governing the Rural Development Loan Fund [RDLF]. These regulations embody changes in existing regulations [45 CFR Subpart 1076.50] including a new definition of "rural" and certain amendments and refinements to clarify and make more specific the requirements of the regulations with a view toward strengthening the administration of the program.     

Determining disability. Railroad Retirement Board. Final rule

The Railroad Retirement Board (Board) hereby amends its disability regulations to discontinue the current policy of conducting continuing disability reviews (CDR's) for medical recovery of disability annuitants in medical improvement not expected (MINE) cases. The Board has found that these reviews have not been cost effective and impose an unnecessary burden on the annuitant.     

Medicare program; Medicare as secondary payer and Medicare recovery against third parties--HCFA. Final rule; reinstatement of regulations

This rule amends final regulations published on October 11, 1989, at 54 FR 41716 in order to replace changes that were intended to clarify policy, but have been interpreted by some readers as expressing substantive policy changes. With the exception of updated cross-references, we therefore are reissuing language that was in effect before the effective date of the October 11, 1989 final rule.     

Medical devices; preemption of state product liability claims--FDA. Proposed rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to amend its regulations regarding preemption of State and local requirements applicable to medical devices. This action is being taken to clarify and codify the agency's longstanding position that available legal remedies, including State common law tort claims, generally are not preempted under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act).     

FDA preemption of drug and device labeling: who should decide what goes on a drug label?

The Supreme Court decided an issue that is critical to consumer health and safety last year. In April 2009, the Supreme Court held that extensive FDA regulation of drugs did not preempt a state law claim that an additional warning on the label was necessary to make the drug reasonably safe for use. Thus, states--and even courts and juries--are now free to cast their vote on what a drug label should say. This is in direct contrast to medical devices, where the federal statute regulating medical devices expressly provides that state regulations are preempted. This Article discusses basic preemption principles and drugs, and explores the policy ramifications of pro- and anti-preemption policy in the healthcare industry.     

Grants and subgrants to for-profit organizations--HHS. Final rules

This announces HHS's final decision to make for-profit organizations eligible for grants in all programs in which grants to those organizations are consistent with legislative intent and program purposes. For all such programs which we have identified and which still have regulatory bars to grants to for-profit organizations, this removes the bars. This also (1) makes HHS's Department-wide grants administration regulations, 45 CFR Part 74, apply to grants and subgrants to for-profit organizations and (2) adds to those regulations additional provisions for grants and subgrants to for-profit organizations. These actions reflect a reversal of the long standing HHS policy of not making grants to for-profit organizations even in programs where they are not barred by law. The new policy is intended to increase competition. This is likely to help the affected HHS programs achieve their objectives better, because they will be able to select from among a greater number of proposed projects.     

Measurement of the activity of radiopharmaceutical dosages: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Proposed rule

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations on human uses of byproduct material, to require specific medical licensees to (1) Measure the total activity of each radiopharmaceutical dosage, except those containing less than 10 microcuries or a pure beta-emitting radionuclide, before it is administered to a patient; (2) verify that smaller dosages contain less than 10 microcuries; and (3) keep a record of the measurements. The assary of each radiopharmaceutical dosage before it is administered to a patient is currently required as a condition for a specific license. Measurement of the total activity of radiopharmaceutical dosage helps to protect patients from unnecessary radiation resulting from errors in labeling, calculating or dispensing dosages. The purpose of this rulemaking is: (1) To simplify licensing by replacing a condition that appears in all medical licenses with one regulation, and (2) To enhance patient radiation safety by minimizing potential misadministrations caused by not measuring the patient dosage.     

高校职务犯罪的原因及预防探讨

随着高等教育的改革与发展,高校管理上出现了新的问题,高校职务犯罪率正呈上升之势。权力监督制约机制松懈、制度流于形式,给职务犯罪以可趁之机。要有效预防高校职务犯罪,教育是基础,制度是保证,监督是关键,领导是重点。