Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies. 

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) has responded to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recommendation that all infants and young children who receive iodinated contrast media (ICM) undergo thyroid testing. The group pushed back against this proposal, emphasizing that implementation would have “far-reaching consequences.”

Cardiologists push back on FDA’s thyroid monitoring/contrast media proposal

According to a new SCAI statement, the FDA's recommendation would result in "far-reaching consequences" across multiple specialties. 

June 24, 2022
During the 2022 State of the Union address, President Biden outlined a new plan to combat COVID-19 by testing and immediate treatment, plans to reduce drug costs, the need for more mental health coverage, and a call for more cancer research under an NIH program.

Contrast shortage update: House Members urge President Biden to intervene

Members who signed the letter were particularly critical of the fact that the shortage is a result of COVID lockdowns in China, stating that this crisis brings to light “the urgent need to establish an outbound investment review process to ensure that critical capabilities are not being offshored ..."

June 23, 2022
Arl Van Moore, MD, American College of Radiology (ACR) delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates, former ACR president, chairman of the ACR Board and former CEO of Strategic Radiology, discusses two radiology related policy decisions at the AMA 2022 meeting. These included a AMA policy on the iodine contrast shortage and AUC CDS. #AMA #AMA22 #AMAmtg #AMA175 #ACR

VIDEO: Radiology takeaways from the 2022 AMA meeting

Arl Van Moore, MD, American College of Radiology (ACR) delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates, former ACR president, chairman of the ACR Board and former CEO of Strategic Radiology, discusses radiology-related policy decisions at the AMA 2022 meeting.

June 22, 2022

AMA adds radiologists to Board of Trustees

The AMA recently shared that Alexander Ding, MD, of Kentucky and Scott Ferguson, MD, of Arkansas have been selected to the Board of Trustees by their peers. 

June 20, 2022
ACR: FDA evidence backing thyroid monitoring in peds after ICM use is 'weak' #contrast #FDA #contrastshortage

ACR: FDA evidence backing thyroid monitoring in peds after ICM use is 'weak'

The ACR statement also brought to light some of the unintended consequences of the FDA’s contrast media safety warning.

June 15, 2022

NRC petitioned by patient advocacy group to require reporting of extravasation

The group is advocating for the NRC to treat significant extravasations in the same manner as any other reportable medical event. 

June 7, 2022
Iodine contrast being loaded into a contrast injector in preparation for a cardiac CT scan at Duly Health and Care in Lisle, Illinois. The contrast shortage is causing some healthcare organizations to postpone exams and procedures and ration contrast supplies. Photo by Dave Fornell

ACR working with FDA and HHS to help address imaging contrast shortage

The American College of Radiology (ACR) announced this week its government relations staff has been engaging federal agencies in an effort to improve product availability and hasten resolution of the ongoing iodine contrast shortage.

May 26, 2022
Interview with Alan H. Matsumoto, MD, FSIR, FACR, FAHA, professor of radiology, chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Virginia, vice chair of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Board of Chancellors, and the chairman of the ACR Commission on Interventional and Cardiovascular Radiology. He explains how the ACR and group purchasing organizations are asking the FDA to mitigate the contrast shortage with an emergency use authorization (EUA) to allow non-FDA cleared iodine contrast use.

VIDEO: American College of Radiology working with FDA to mitigate contrast shortage

Alan Matsumoto, MD, chair of the department of radiology at the University of Virginia and vice chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors, explains how the ACR and group purchasing organizations are asking the FDA to mitigate the contrast shortage with an emergency use authorization to allow non-FDA cleared iodine contrast agents to be imported.

May 26, 2022

Around the web

Automated AI-generated measurements combined with annotated CT images can improve treatment planning and help referring physicians and patients better understand their disease, explained Sarah Jane Rinehart, MD, director of cardiac imaging with Charleston Area Medical Center.

Two advanced algorithms—one for CAC scores and another for segmenting cardiac chamber volumes—outperformed radiologists when assessing low-dose chest CT scans. 

"Gen AI can help tackle repetitive tasks and provide insights into massive datasets, saving valuable time," Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said Tuesday. 

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