Tag Archive: conference


Video: Clinton addresses global business conference

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.22, 2012

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the first-ever State Department Global Business Conference on Tuesday.

Speaking to an audience of both private sector executives and government officials, she discussed several measures State is taking to enhance “jobs diplomacy” initiatives.  The agency plans to promote U.S. businesses, attract investment back to the country and allow for fair competition, Clinton said.

“American companies haven’t always seen the federal government as an ally, and I know the State Department has not always been the first call when you’re looking for help. So we can and we will, and in fact we are doing better,” Clinton said.
 

“I have made “jobs diplomacy” a priority mission at the State Department, with a clear goal: Just as our companies are ready to out-work, out-innovate, and out-compete their rivals, so we intend to be the most effective diplomatic champions for prosperity and growth,” she said.

 

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Obama chief of staff: ‘Congress needs to get its work done’

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.13, 2012

In a line the Obama administration has made clear will be one of its campaign slogans, new White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew on Sunday signaled how the White House will play both the extension of the payroll tax cut and the president’s fiscal 2013 budget request, to be released on Monday.

“Congress needs to get its work done,” Lew said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.

Lew made the news show rounds Sunday for the first time as Chief of Staff, a position he assumed this month after heading up the Office of Management and Budget for a little over a year and a half. And he weighed in on a variety of issues.

Early leaks indicate the president’s budget will emphasize infrastructure spending and promise the creation of some 2 million jobs while cutting $4 trillion from the deficit over the next decade.

Lew dismissed the suggestion that the infrastructure spending included looked like another stimulus plan. “I think most Americans understand that a crumbling infrastructure is not the way to build an economy that can last,” Lew said.

Lew repeatedly weighed in on the payroll tax fight in his TV appearances Sunday, a tax provision scheduled to expire at the end of the month. A congressional conference committee is currently trying to hash out the details of an agreement on a year-long extension, but has made little progress. Lew emphasized the importance of the extension, an issue the White House deftly handled in December as Republicans stumbled into a position that opposed a tax cut for the middle class.

“There’s not enough economic growth, but we’re heading in the right direction,” Lew said on Fox News Sunday. “The question is, is Washington going to be part of the solution or part of the problem? That’s why it’s so important for Congress to pass the payroll tax cut extension this month, that’s why it’s so important that we not have the kind of dysfunction that last year became part of the uncertainty that held back the economy.”

Lew also addressed the imbroglio provoked by the Obama administration’s decision last week to require employers to pay for health insurance plans that offer free birth control even if they disagree with it on religious grounds. Many have cast the move as an overreach that violates religious liberty.

“The president had two important goals here,” Lew said on ABC’s This Week. “One is to guarantee that every woman has a right to all forms of preventive health care, including contraception, secondly, that we do it in a way that respects the legitimate religious differences and the religious liberties that are so important in our country.”

Obama on Friday softened the rule, shifting the cost to health insurance companies rather than religious institutions, after loud backlash from elements of the Catholic Church. Lew said the new rule would “reconcile those two very important values.”

President Obama’s budget was quickly dismissed last year as an unrealistic political press release — one that even Democrats voted against in the Senate, where it failed 0-97 — and the White House hinted then that it was only trying to put out a marker before House Republicans put out their own budget. The budget battles that have dominated Congress since then have made deficit reduction a goal the president will have to adhere to — or at least appear to prioritize. 

State of the Union host Candy Crowley suggested that the budget would be “attacked as a political document” that would simply lay the groundwork for Obama to say the GOP blocked job creation, even though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said recently that the Senate didn’t need to pass a budget.

Lew countered that Reid was simply referring to the setting of caps on annual appropriations, which was already accomplished by the Budget Control Act passed in August 2011. “He’s not saying that they shouldn’t pass a budget,” Lew said.

“Unless Republicans in the House are willing to work with Democrats in the Senate,” Lew added, “Harry Reid is not going to be able to get a budget passed…but let’s be clear. There’s time and the desire to work together.”

Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report.

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An Ad Blitz to Protect Pay

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.09, 2012

ARCHIVES

Viewers of the Sunday talk shows this weekend can expect to witness the opening salvo in an ad campaign rushed out during budget season by the American Federation of Government Employees. The 30-second spot to air on ABC and CBS (and again Monday and Tuesday on CNN, Fox and MSNBC) features three federal employees imploring Republicans in Congress who would cut federal pay to “explain it to me.”

“I earn less than $45,000 a year. Explain it to me, GOP, how cutting my pay creates jobs,” says Paul Hoban of AFGE Local 1647, which represents employees at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania.

“Twelve percent of the salary I earn caring for veterans goes to my retirement. Explain it to me, GOP, how cutting my retirement puts people to work,” says Teresa Capecchi of AFGE Local 3669, which represents nurses at Minnesota VA Hospitals.

The ads are also timed to air in the run-up to AFGE’s annual legislative conference planned for Feb. 12-15 in Washington.

View the ad below:

Charlie Clark joined Government Executive in the fall of 2009. He has been on staff at The Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly, National Journal, Time-Life Books, Tax Analysts, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, and the National Center on Education and the Economy. He has written or edited online news, daily news stories, long features, wire copy, magazines, books and organizational media strategies.

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House passes STOCK Act requiring disclosure by federal employees

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.09, 2012

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved its version of the so-called STOCK Act, which aims primarily at curbing insider trading by lawmakers, but also includes a provision to extend disclosure requirements to thousands of federal employees.

The measure that will affect federal workers differs slightly from a similar provision in the Senate version of the bill. The final details must be worked out in conference. By a 417-2 vote, the House approved the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, including language released Wednesday night by Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., that removed a contentious Senate provision that would have required so-called political intelligence consultants to disclose activities and to register as lobbyists. The bill now will go to a conference committee to resolve differences.

“We added a provision to prohibit members of Congress, executive branch officials and their staffs from receiving special access to initial public offerings due to their positions,” Cantor said in a statement before the vote. “We intend to act quickly to send the president a strengthened, workable bill that delivers on our promise to uphold the trust of the American people.”

The STOCK Act seeks to clarify an ambiguity in the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act by prohibiting members of Congress and their staffs from trading on information they obtain from their work that is not available to the general public. It would require disclosure 30 days after any securities trade of more than $1,000 and would compel all disclosures to be available electronically.

Confusion over how many federal employees would be required to disclose information emerged last week after an amendment from Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., broadened the language to cover thousands more lower level federal employees. Under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, high-level federal appointees must make their financial disclosures public, while a vaster universe of mid-level employees must disclose confidentially to their agency ethics officer.

The House version would cover only the smaller group of top officials. The staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Feb. 6 sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics seeking clarification on the legislation’s scope. According to a Feb. 8 http://cdn.govexec.com/media/020912cc1.pdf>replyfrom OGE Principal Deputy Director Don Fox, the number of high-level employees who in 2010 made their financial disclosures public was 28,019. The number of mid-level employees who disclosed confidentially was 363,771.

Requiring lawmakers and federal officials for the first time to disclose their stock grades has drawn support from government transparency advocacy groups. But Cantor’s changes, made before House passage, drew the ire of Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who accused the House of “watering down” the bill.

“Rep. Cantor has opposed the STOCK Act from the start and his bill reflects that,” said Sloan. “The majority leader is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He is trying to take credit for finally responding to an issue that has outraged Americans, while behind closed doors he has taken the side of Wall Street and neutered the tough Senate bill.”

As the bill heads for conference, her group will push for inclusion of the disclosure requirements for political intelligence services and another Senate-only amendment that would give prosecutors new tools to identify, investigate and prosecute criminal conduct by public officials.

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House passes STOCK Act requiring disclosure by federal employees

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.09, 2012

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved its version of the so-called STOCK Act, which aims primarily at curbing insider trading by lawmakers, but also includes a provision to extend disclosure requirements to thousands of federal employees.

The measure that will affect federal workers differs slightly from a similar provision in the Senate version of the bill. The final details must be worked out in conference. By a 417-2 vote, the House approved the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, including language released Wednesday night by Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., that removed a contentious Senate provision that would have required so-called political intelligence consultants to disclose activities and to register as lobbyists. The bill now will go to a conference committee to resolve differences.

“We added a provision to prohibit members of Congress, executive branch officials and their staffs from receiving special access to initial public offerings due to their positions,” Cantor said in a statement before the vote. “We intend to act quickly to send the president a strengthened, workable bill that delivers on our promise to uphold the trust of the American people.”

The STOCK Act seeks to clarify an ambiguity in the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act by prohibiting members of Congress and their staffs from trading on information they obtain from their work that is not available to the general public. It would require disclosure 30 days after any securities trade of more than $1,000 and would compel all disclosures to be available electronically.

Confusion over how many federal employees would be required to disclose information emerged last week after an amendment from Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., broadened the language to cover thousands more lower level federal employees. Under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, high-level federal appointees must make their financial disclosures public, while a vaster universe of mid-level employees must disclose confidentially to their agency ethics officer.

The House version would cover only the smaller group of top officials. The staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Feb. 6 sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics seeking clarification on the legislation’s scope. According to a Feb. 8 http://cdn.govexec.com/media/020912cc1.pdf>replyfrom OGE Principal Deputy Director Don Fox, the number of high-level employees who in 2010 made their financial disclosures public was 28,019. The number of mid-level employees who disclosed confidentially was 363,771.

Requiring lawmakers and federal officials for the first time to disclose their stock grades has drawn support from government transparency advocacy groups. But Cantor’s changes, made before House passage, drew the ire of Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who accused the House of “watering down” the bill.

“Rep. Cantor has opposed the STOCK Act from the start and his bill reflects that,” said Sloan. “The majority leader is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He is trying to take credit for finally responding to an issue that has outraged Americans, while behind closed doors he has taken the side of Wall Street and neutered the tough Senate bill.”

As the bill heads for conference, her group will push for inclusion of the disclosure requirements for political intelligence services and another Senate-only amendment that would give prosecutors new tools to identify, investigate and prosecute criminal conduct by public officials.

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House passes STOCK Act requiring disclosure by federal employees

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.09, 2012

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved its version of the so-called STOCK Act, which aims primarily at curbing insider trading by lawmakers, but also includes a provision to extend disclosure requirements to thousands of federal employees.

The measure that will affect federal workers differs slightly from a similar provision in the Senate version of the bill. The final details must be worked out in conference. By a 417-2 vote, the House approved the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, including language released Wednesday night by Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., that removed a contentious Senate provision that would have required so-called political intelligence consultants to disclose activities and to register as lobbyists. The bill now will go to a conference committee to resolve differences.

“We added a provision to prohibit members of Congress, executive branch officials and their staffs from receiving special access to initial public offerings due to their positions,” Cantor said in a statement before the vote. “We intend to act quickly to send the president a strengthened, workable bill that delivers on our promise to uphold the trust of the American people.”

The STOCK Act seeks to clarify an ambiguity in the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act by prohibiting members of Congress and their staffs from trading on information they obtain from their work that is not available to the general public. It would require disclosure 30 days after any securities trade of more than $1,000 and would compel all disclosures to be available electronically.

Confusion over how many federal employees would be required to disclose information emerged last week after an amendment from Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., broadened the language to cover thousands more lower level federal employees. Under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, high-level federal appointees must make their financial disclosures public, while a vaster universe of mid-level employees must disclose confidentially to their agency ethics officer.

The House version would cover only the smaller group of top officials. The staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Feb. 6 sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics seeking clarification on the legislation’s scope. According to a Feb. 8 http://cdn.govexec.com/media/020912cc1.pdf>replyfrom OGE Principal Deputy Director Don Fox, the number of high-level employees who in 2010 made their financial disclosures public was 28,019. The number of mid-level employees who disclosed confidentially was 363,771.

Requiring lawmakers and federal officials for the first time to disclose their stock grades has drawn support from government transparency advocacy groups. But Cantor’s changes, made before House passage, drew the ire of Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who accused the House of “watering down” the bill.

“Rep. Cantor has opposed the STOCK Act from the start and his bill reflects that,” said Sloan. “The majority leader is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He is trying to take credit for finally responding to an issue that has outraged Americans, while behind closed doors he has taken the side of Wall Street and neutered the tough Senate bill.”

As the bill heads for conference, her group will push for inclusion of the disclosure requirements for political intelligence services and another Senate-only amendment that would give prosecutors new tools to identify, investigate and prosecute criminal conduct by public officials.

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State Department pushes back on reports of plans to slash Iraq staff

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.08, 2012

The State Department is vociferously pushing back against what it called “funky” reports that the U.S. plans to cut the size of its diplomatic presence in Baghdad by as much as half because of security concerns and ongoing tensions with the increasingly authoritarian government.

“Contrary to some of the news reports, we are not reducing our operations by 50 percent,” Thomas Nides, deputy secretary of State for management and resources, told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. “But, quite frankly, I am hopeful that over the next few months we will be able to reduce our size by reducing our dependency on contractors…. We owe it to the taxpayers.”

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the U.S. was preparing to cut down the size and scope of the embassy in Baghdad — where 16,000 diplomats and contractors are stationed — by half because of security concerns and tussling with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.  Nides said he doesn’t know “where the 50 percent number came from, but it is what it is.”

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland blasted the “wild guesstimates” in a “couple of funky pieces” about the reductions in personnel. “To the degree to which there may be a reduction in the diplomatic personnel, it’ll be modest,” she told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday.

The assessment of how to create a more “normalized embassy presence” since the last American troops pulled out of the country in December will continue well into this year, Nides said. Going contract by contract to determine what goods the U.S. can purchase locally — as opposed to bringing them in from over the border — will dramatically reduce dependency on contractors, he added.

Another way to trim expenses is to consolidate some of the locations and spaces the diplomatic presence actually needs, and rely more on local Iraqi contractors, Nides said. The number of security guards is “a total derivative” of the square footage they need to protect, he noted. 

A day earlier, Nuland dismissed the complaints featured in the Times article about how “life became more difficult” for the thousands of diplomats and contractors after the last American troops pulled out in December. After convoys were delayed at border crossings, the Times reported that “within days, the salad bar at the embassy dining hall ran low. Sometimes there was no sugar or Splenda for coffee. On chicken-wing night, wings were rationed at six per person.”

Nuland said on Tuesday she did not consider an insufficient amount of arugula at the salad bar to necessarily constitute a hardship in Iraq. “Frankly, I saw that story,” Nuland said, “and it looked like some, some whingeing that was inappropriate… on the part of embassy employees, with regard to the quality of the salad bar.”

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White House touts progress fighting waste, announces new initiatives

Filed Under: Insurance News
Dec.13, 2011

The White House on Tuesday made a push to highlight its six-month-old Campaign to Cut Government Waste, announcing recovery of $5.6 billion from civil and criminal fraud cases, curbing production of commemorative presidential coins, and unveiling a plan to crack down on wasteful and unsafe abuse of prescription drugs.

Reporting on the results of a morning Cabinet meeting led by Vice President Joe Biden, officials in a conference call with reporters announced a mixture of new initiatives and summations of accomplishments by three departments in curbing waste, fraud and abuse.

In June, Biden launched a campaign that requires each Cabinet secretary to make reducing waste a priority and report results to the White House and on a new website. In November, President Obama issued an executive order tasking agencies with reducing spending on travel, conferences and agency promotional items.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole on Tuesday said prosecutions of fraud, mostly in the health care field through partnerships between the Justice and the Health and Human Services departments, have more than doubled since 2008. “This is more than has ever been recovered in a single year in Justice Department history,” he said, noting that the fraud occurred in grants, mortgages and procurement, though more than half was in Medicare and Medicaid. Of the overall amount recovered, almost $3.4 billion was due to civil fraud and more than $2.2 billion was attributable to criminal fraud.

Cole cited as examples a $15 million settlement with Texas-based American Grocers Inc., prosecuted for falsifying fresh food expiration dates and delivering the supplies to U.S. troops in Iraq and in other combat zones. He mentioned prosecution of CVS Pharmacy for inflating prescription drug claims in 10 states, and pursuit of 10 manufacturers of defective bulletproof vests whose products had led to injuries of law enforcement officers.

“For every $1 Congress invested in Justice prosecutions, it received nearly $7 for taxpayers,” Cole added.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she told the Cabinet that health insurers are being urged to tighten controls to prevent “doctor shopping” by abusers of pain medication who seek to have prescriptions filled by multiple physicians in order to feed a habit or illegally resell the drugs. A Government Accountability Office report on the problem was the basis for an October hearing.

Medicare Part B plans “can be our partners” in tightening screening and declining to pay claims that appear suspicious until they are investigated, she said. It’s both a taxpayer value and health issue, she added, noting that 450,000 emergency room visits annually are linked to abuse of prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Percocet. Tracking fraud also will be easier under new tools provided by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Sebelius said. She said savings during the next several years could reach $2 billion, half of which would go to states.

The Obama administration has “reinvigorated” medical fraud prosecutions, Sebelius added. “There has never been a worse time to try to steal from Medicare,” she said.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin reported that Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had told the Cabinet that Treasury was reducing the surplus inventory of $1 presidential coins that have been produced steadily by the U.S. Mint as required by a 2005 law. “The problem is demand for each drops immediately after it is issued,” he said, noting that surpluses have increased more than 700 percent, leaving $1.4 billion in coins sitting in vaults, which “is not a prudent use of taxpayer resources.”

To comply with the law, the Mint will continue to produce coins aimed at the collectors market rather than the 70 million or 80 million it currently makes, he said.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who had introduced legislation to curb production of the coins, issued a statement calling the decision “a big victory in the fight against mindless government waste, because these coins are a textbook case of wasteful spending — something Americans just don’t want or need.”

Addressing other waste reduction moves under way, such as trimming use of agency promotional products, the officials said agencies already have made progress. HHS promised results by the end of the year, while Justice and Treasury already have ended use of so-called swag, officials said.

Cole added that Treasury already has saved $25 million in 2011 by reducing spending on professional conferences, though he reiterated that this year’s inspector general’s report that his department had spent $16 apiece for breakfast muffins had been retracted.

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Another legislative standoff looms

Filed Under: Insurance News
Dec.08, 2011

Congress moved closer to another legislative standoff on Wednesday, with Senate Democrats warning that a House Republican threat to leave for Christmas without a deal on extending an employee payroll tax holiday, would backfire politically. Senate Democrats and President Obama will remain in town until the extension passes, and would use the time against absent Republicans, Senate Democratic leaders warned in a news conference.

“We will make sure we pass this tax cut for the middle class and we are not going to go home until we make sure it’s complete,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. “We can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way.”

With House Republicans struggling to align behind a bill to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, GOP aides said the House might adjourn by Dec. 16 with no deal if Democrats don’t compromise. Democrats want to prevent House leaders from trying such a move by threatening dire political results for the GOP.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats will keep the Senate in through Christmas or New Year’s Day if needed. Reid said Obama, in a meeting with the leaders earlier on Wednesday, pledged to put off a vacation until Congress finishes its business. Reid, paraphrasing, said Obama told the leaders “Michelle and the girls will have a great time in Hawaii;they don’t need me.”

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Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s Inaugural IPF Summit Receives High Accolades From Pulmonary Fibrosis Community

Filed Under: Insurance News
Dec.06, 2011

CHICAGO, Dec. 6, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s (PFF) inaugural conference on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), IPF Summit 2011: From Bench to Bedside, was recently held in Chicago.  The event brought together medical professionals, patients, and caregivers for an innovative two-day meeting.  Gregory P. Cosgrove, MD, IPF Summit 2011 Faculty Member and PFF Medical Advisory Board Member commented on the importance of the event: “The Summit was truly exceptional in bringing together the medical, scientific, and patient communities to learn and collaborate in a mutually beneficial environment.”

The IPF Summit 2011 was presented by the PFF in partnership with National Jewish Health and The France Foundation and endorsed by the American Thoracic Society. Forty-four presentations were conducted by preeminent professionals in the field of pulmonary fibrosis.  Kevin K. Brown, MD, IPF Summit 2011 Program Chair and Chair of the PFF Medical Advisory Board, described the conference: “The IPF Summit is the first meeting of its kind to bring together both the scientific and clinical medical communities dedicated to treating, and one day curing, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Dedicating significant portions of the program to the needs of patients and caregivers highlights the Foundation’s desire for the Summit to be a resource for the entire pulmonary fibrosis community.”

The IPF Summit 2011 was held before a sold out audience that included 244 medical professionals and 127 patients/caregivers. There were attendees from 36 states and 14 countries. In order to provide the information to individuals who could not attend the conference, there was a live webcast of the patient/caregiver sessions. Almost 600 viewers watched the webcast including an international audience representing nine different countries. Additionally, 225 people attended group satellite feeds of the Summit at ten national and three international locations.  The entire conference, including the physician sessions, will be available on-demand at the Foundation’s website in January 2012.

The Summit emphasized the importance of new research; twenty-six young academic investigators were chosen to give poster presentations on their basic, clinical, translational, or social science/quality of life research.  All submissions were peer-reviewed and graded; awards were given to the first, second, and third place posters. Their research presented original ideas that will help improve the understanding of pulmonary fibrosis.

“The Summit was an important milestone for the PFF and launches the next stage of the Foundation’s role as a resource and catalyst for the PF community,” stated Daniel M. Rose, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer at the PFF.  ”We would like to thank all of the people who have helped to support the PFF including our individual and corporate donors, volunteer fundraisers, and Foundation sponsors.” Sponsors include: The Bean Family; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Booz Allen Hamilton; Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis; Phyllis N. Demont; Jennifer A. Galvin, MD; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Hales; Hogan Lovells; ImmuneWorks; InterMune; JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation; Jenny H. Krauss and Otto F. Krauss Charitable Foundation Trust; Chuck Lawless / The Lawless Team, Mesirow Financial; Lincare; Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. McQuaid; Julia Willis O’ Connor; Pacific Northwest Friends of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation; Promedior; ProVideo; REI; Mrs. Selma Rose; Stromedix; and Tighe Logistics Group.

The PFF announced that the dates of its IPF Summit 2013 will be December 5-7, 2013. To pre-register, please contact the PFF at summit@pulmonaryfibrosis.org or 888.733.6741. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Cara Schillinger at cschilllinger@pulmonaryfibrosis.org or 312.265.2184.

About the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation

The mission of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation is to help find a cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), advocate for the pulmonary fibrosis community both locally and in Washington, D.C., promote disease awareness, and provide a compassionate environment for patients and their families. The PFF collaborates with physicNEWS.GNOM.ES, organizations, patients, and caregivers worldwide. December 1-3, 2011 the PFF hosted its first biennial international scientific conference, IPF Summit 2011: From Bench to Bedside, in Chicago; IPF Summit 2013 will be held December 5-7, 2013. For more information visit www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org or call 888-733-6741.

About the IPF Summit 2011: From Bench to Bedside

The IPF Summit 2011: From Bench to Bedside was the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s inaugural national scientific conference on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The goal of the Summit was to foster a collaborative environment to improve education and awareness of IPF, and to identify new approaches to treat and ultimately find a cure for this devastating disease. The Summit featured innovative continuing medical education programs for physicNEWS.GNOM.ES, researchers, registered nurses, and allied health professionals to improve their clinical understanding of IPF, as well as a one-day program to address the growing educational needs of IPF patients, family members, and caregivers. The Summit was planned in accordance with the Essentials and Standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), in partnership with The France Foundation and National Jewish Health and was endorsed by the American Thoracic Society. For more information, please visit www.ipfsummit.org or call 888-733-6741.

About Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

According to the National Institutes of Health, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a condition in which over a period of time the lung tissue becomes thickened, stiff, and scarred. The development of the scar tissue is called fibrosis. As the lung tissue becomes scarred and thicker, the lungs lose their ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. As a result, the brain and other organs don’t receive the oxygen they need. In some cases, doctors can determine the cause of the fibrosis, but in most cases, there is not a known cause. When there is no known etiology for the fibrosis (and certain pathologic criteria are met) the disease is called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or IPF. IPF affects approximately 200,000 individuals in the US, and the annual mortality is estimated to be 40,000.  At present there are no FDA-approved medical therapies.

­­Contact:
Cara Schillinger
Associate Vice President, Communications and Marketing
312.265.2184
cschillinger@pulmonaryfibrosis.org

SOURCE The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation


http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org

Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s Inaugural IPF Summit Receives High Accolades From Pulmonary Fibrosis Community | Chicago Press Release Services – Chicago’s leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.



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