For over three decades, CEI has advocated health care reforms that put more power in the hands of consumers to choose their health providers, treatment protocols, and scope of insurance coverage. We have advocated reform of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug and device approval process to allow for greater flexibility and patient choice. And in 2013, CEI organized the court challenges to Obamacare’s exchange subsidies that concluded with the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision.
Healthcare Issue Areas
Featured Posts
News Release
Rescheduling marijuana to a less restrictive category will benefit liberty and public health
President Trump signed an executive order today intended to fast track the rescheduling of cannabis from a Schedule I substance, the same as heroin,…
News Release
CEI Study: Government laws against pharmacy ownership would increase costs, restrict access for consumers
Innovation is reshaping how Americans get their prescription medications. Whether picking up medications in person, ordering online, or getting same-day delivery from services like Capsule,…
Study
A Free Market is the Best Medicine
Introduction The pharmaceutical supply market is seeing extraordinarily high levels of innovation and consumer-benefiting evolution. The combination of a competitive market for generic drugs, rapid…
Search Posts
Newsletter
Cancer Drugs, Voting Rights and Cap and Trade Controversy
Author Virginia Postrel details her successful battle against breast cancer. The Justice Department re-considers whether the proposed D.C. voting rights bill is constitutional. States with…
Newsletter
Absurd Product Bans, Global Warming Legislation and Unsafe Organic Farming
Industry observers look to California to take the lead in ending the ban on online gambling. Reps. Henry Waxman and Ed Markey introduce sweeping new…
Blog
Virginia Postrel on Her Own Brush with Cost-Effective Drug Research
One letter writer argues that Herceptin was a poor example because "Multiple cost-effectiveness analyses have shown that, despite its high cost, Herceptin is both effective…
Op-Eds
Supreme Court Botches Preemption Case
SUPREME COURT BOTCHES PREEMPTION CASE…
Newsletter
AIG’s Tarnished Brand, The White House Vegetable Garden and Global Warming Negotiations
The damage to AIG’s corporate brand may hinder its ability to repay bailout loans from taxpayers. First Lady Michelle Obama announces the creation of a…
Newsletter
Toxic Assets, NIMBYs and Fish Pedicures
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveils a plan to sell off “toxic assets” as part of the federal bank bailout. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launches…
Blog
Fishing for Rationality in the Beauty Salon
Thinking of getting one of those cool new “fish pedicures”? Well, you’d better act fast. 14 states have already banned the process. But a member…
Op-Eds
Needle and the Damage Done
The Supreme Court botches a drug preemption case.
Blog
An Explosion of Litigation
Already burdened by $8 trillion in new federal spending commitments and the likelihood of higher taxes to pay for bailouts,…
Blog
Yes, “Botch” is the right word.
Alex is right. “This IS one of these questions about what to do in the real world, where first-best solutions just aren’t politically possible†(emphasis…
Blog
Did the Supreme Court “Botch” Wyeth v. Levine?
I was initially going to post this as a comment to Greg Conko’s recent post arguing against the Court’s recent decision in Wyeth…
Blog
Supreme Court Botches Preemption Case
Ms. Levine alleged not only that the warning on Phenergan's label wasn't strong enough, but that Phenergan was "not reasonably safe for intravenous administration," and…
Citation
Supreme Court’s decision in Wyeth v. Levine
News Release
Supreme Court Botches Preemption Case
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:"";…
Newsletter
FDA’s Death Toll, Online Gambling and Dangerous Treaties
The Food and Drug Administration restricts production of an approved drug to treat a degenerative and often fatal muscle disorder. Online gambling operators await action…
Study
Black Box Panic
How the FDA’s Bad Science Leads to More Teen Suicides…
Newsletter
Toilet Papers Wars, New Powers for the EPA and Bottled Water Hypocrisy
Environmental groups attack the use of soft, comfortable toilet paper. President Obama proposes a 34% increase in the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency. Cities…
Blog
Obama’s Bankruptcy Math Has to be Wrong
President Obama claimed in his speech tonight: “For that same reason, we must also address the crushing cost of health care. “This is a cost…
Newsletter
Bottled Water Wars, Stimulus Disaster and Offshore Oil
Activists urge local governments to enact policies opposing the sale of bottled water. The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops dramatically as President Obama signs a…
News Release
New Study Debunks Myths About Bottled Water
Recent activist campaigns against bottled water have been filled with myths and half-truths, and have been motivated more by environmentalist ideology than evidence, according to a new study released…
Blog
Wyeth v. Levine: Policy Arguments Regarding Preemption
The Wyeth v. Levine case presents a narrow set of facts in which the Food and Drug Administration had, for many years, known about the…
Blog
Preemption in Wyeth v. Levine: Broader Implications
The legal arguments of the parties, and the incremental approach typical of the Supreme Court, strongly suggest that the Court will issue a narrow legal…
Blog
Uber-Attorney Bert Rein to Guest Blog on Federal Preemption Case
Back in November, I wrote about the pending Supreme Court case Wyeth v. Levine, the decision in which will have a huge impact on the…
Newsletter
Gregg Withdraws, Health Care Rationing and the ‘Climate Crisis’
Sen. Judd Gregg withdraws his nomination to be President Obama’s Secretary of Commerce. An obscure provision in the federal stimulus bill could lead to health…
Blog
Coming to a Pharmacy Near You: One Size Fits All
Tucked away in the stimulus bill is $1.1 billion to fund a new agency modeled after the UK’s NICE, which has repeatedly denied Brits access…
Blog
Dickie Scruggs Back in Court
But, alas, not as a litigator – the role that made him rich and famous – but as a defendant. According to Legal Newsline,…
Blog
Tilting at Food Safety Windmills
Unfortunately, as long as the world's food production system continues to be highly decentralized and fragmented, there will continue to be foodborne illness outbreaks like…
Blog
Springsteen clashes with Obama advisor on Wal-Mart
In between playing at the Lincoln Memorial for Barack Obama’s inaugural concert and performing the half-time show last night at the Super Bowl, Bruce Springsteen…
Blog
Len Nichols of NAF on Incentives in Health Care
12:52pm Len Nichols of the New America Foundation is driving down the same “Middle Road” that the last panel plotted out. So far,…
Blog
Heart Docs & Health Reform: What about Regulation?
I’m listening now to a panel discussion at the America College or Cardiology Health System Reform Summit. The panel’s topic: “Health Care Reform: State Models…
News Release
What’s Stupid About Bottled Water?
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:"";…
News Release
CEI Unveils Agenda for Congress
Washington, D.C., January 26, 2009—With the incoming Obama administration and the opening of the new Congress, the House and Senate are…
Newsletter
The FCC and Media Ownership, Ford’s Auto Bailout and Vilsack for Agriculture
President-elect Obama’s pick to head the Federal Communications Commission favors stronger diversity and “media ownership” regulations. Poor sales figures may push the Ford Motor Company…
News Release
Statement on Nomination of Tom Vilsack to be Agriculture Secretary
Washington, D.C., January 13, 2008—President-elect Obama’s choice for Agriculture Secretary has a troubling record on agriculture and consumer issues, according to an…
Newsletter
Kids’ Safety, The War on Obesity and Che’s Legacy
New safety rules for children’s clothes generate controversy. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick launches a new anti-obesity campaign. Director Steven Soderbergh prepares to release his two-part…
Blog
Massive in Massachusetts
The people of Massachusetts, who until now have been entirely clueless about the fat content of any food, will finally be set free from their…
Op-Eds
Time for a Surgeon General-ectomy?
President-elect Obama has reportedly chosen Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent and one of People magazine’s “sexiest men alive,” for the post of…
Blog
Nationalized Health Care: Growing the Nanny State
Advocates of the Nanny State have long been with us. What was Prohibition but an early manifestation of government treating everyone as children to protect…
Blog
Remember, the Government Wants to Manage Your Health Care!
Just think how wonderful it would be if government guaranteed everyone health care. Just like in Great Britain! Just ask Lynne Neilson what she thinks…
Blog
Killing Without the Smile
The National Health Service loves to save money. Too bad that means denying essential medical care and killing patients. But what’s a bureaucracy for? The…
Blog
Protecting Pets Before People
Why do advocates of socialized medicine prefer pets over people? It’s hard not to conclude that’s the way they think. After all, in Canada you…
Blog
Effective Health Care Cost Containment
With the Obama administration preparing to address the problem of health care, they should remember that the most effective form of cost containment is to…
Blog
Abarackadabra! A 21st Century “New Steal”
JOBS, ROADS, BRIDGES, SCHOOLS, BROADBAND, ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS, ENERGY…blares the Drudge Report. It’s President-elect Obama’s weekend plan—not to produce, but to transfer yet…
Blog
The Wonders of Socialized Medicine, Part LXVI
The Daily Mail reminds us how government health care is compassionate and efficient; So imagine my shock when I saw how some nurses recently…
Newsletter
Bottled Water for the Homeless, Challenging NAFTA and Green-on-Green Violence
North Carolina officials pass out winter aid kits to the homeless. Barack Obama’s presumptive pick for trade representative suggests that the U.S. should renegotiate the…
Blog
Doug, I think you’re partly wrong
Doug, The situation you describe in the UK here is outrageous however one looks at it. Indeed, it provides a strong case why the…
Blog
Health Care Bureaucrats Take Care of Themselves
For years observers have noted the phenomenon of public school teachers sending their kids to private schools–especially in cities with the worst and deadliest public…
Blog
You’ve Just Got to Love Britain’s Health Care Bureaucrats
First the National (Un)Health Service said if you wanted a drug that it wasn’t willing to provide–too expensive for the purpose of saving your miserable…
Blog
Socialize Medicine, Kill Cancer Patients
Any American who travels to Europe as I just did is likely to get hit with the argument that the United States is inhumane because…
Blog
Too Bad Daschle Isn’t at SEC — Backed Sarbanes-Oxley Relief
President-Elect Barack Obama just nominated former Senate Democratic Leader Tom to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. Much is being written about Daschle…
Blog
Daschle: Good, Wrong, and Terrible
President-elect Obama has named Tom Daschle to head the Department of Health and Human Services. By some measures the largest department in the government,…
Newsletter
Yahoo’s Fortunes, Chevron’s Strange Ads and the Battle over Bottled Water
Shares of web pioneer Yahoo Inc. rise upon departure of CEO Jerry Yang. Chevron launches a series of ads aimed at reducing energy consumption. A…
Blog
Brits Say Care More Expensive, Lower Quality than in Estonia
Ah, socialized medicine. Everyone is guaranteed care, right? And the government saves so much money that is wasted in America. Well, so much for the…
Blog
Supreme Court Considers Tort Preemption for Medicines
Diana Levine suffered from chronic migraine headaches for many years. So, in April 2000, when she went to a local clinic to get treatment,…
Blog
Market Health Care Reforms in Europe
While the U.S. seems to continue its slow slide towards socialized health care, patients currently suffering under such systems around the world are clamoring for…
Blog
Imagine: Free Health Care Is Expensive!
Who would have thought it? Provide free health care and people drop their private coverage. It seems that politicians are uniformly slow learners. But after…
Newsletter
Stimulus Redux, Benefits of Bottled Water and the Pro-Poverty Left
Senators consider a second round of taxpayer-financed economic stimulus. Bottled water producers attempt to work constructively with environmental groups that have called for additional taxes…
Newsletter
Banning Bottled Water, Disaster Insurance and the Mortgage Meltdown
The U.S. Conference of Mayors votes to endorse banning the sale of bottled water across the country. Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund could face a shortfall…
News Release
Campaign Targets Unfair Political Assault on Bottled Water
A new petition drive demands that politicians not continue plans to ban the product for safety workers and consumers. The campaign comes in the wake of…
Blog
Cheney Diagnosed with an Abnormal Heart Rhythm
The 67-year old Vice President will be undergoing an outpatient procedure — an electrical shock — to restore his normal rhythm today at George…
Newsletter
Bailout Reactions, ACORN’s Shady History and Challenging Medicare Rules
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announces plans to invest in thousands of U.S. banks. Prominent politicians weigh in on the voter fraud controversy linked to activist…
Blog
Let Uncle Sam’s People Go!
One of most outrageous features of the federal social welfare state is that Uncle Sam doesn’t want you to be independent. For instance, if you would…
Blog
British Health (Mis)Care: No Complaints Allowed
The British government has found the right strategy to cut down on complaints about the National Health Service–convince patients that nothing can be done. Then…
Newsletter
Voter Fraud, Health Care Reforms and Latin American Politics
Competing legal teams prepare to do battle over allegations of voter fraud. A new report contrasts the competing health care plans announced by the major…
Blog
The Wonders of Socialized Health Care, Number 8,977
Ameirca’s health care system is messed up. Agreed. It is a bizarre amalgam of public and private, with government spending and tax policy creating counterproductive…
Newsletter
Bailout Fallout, the New (Green) Deal and Scaring Parents with Toxic Arguments
The House and Senate agree on a $700 billion financial bailout bill. Environmentalists try to leverage the mortgage and Wall Street financial crisis to argue…
Citation
the presidential candidates’ views on the biotech industry
Citation
FDA approval for “biogeneric” drugs
Blog
NHS Reform: A Few More Brits Might Survive
Great Britain’s Vaunted National Health Insurance won’t pay for necessary drugs to its patients, but it has refused to allow them to contribute their own…
Blog
Socialized Health Care Feels Like it is … Socialized!
Want to nationalize American health care? Just compare what it’s like to be treated in America and in Britain. Writes F. Brinley Bruton: A…
Newsletter
Hurricane Recovery, Union Politics and Disaster Insurance
Residents of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast are being advised to avoid taps and drink only bottled water. Unions increase their spending on campaign advertisements and…
Op-Eds
Activists Hit the (Plastic) Bottle Again
Anti-chemical activists opened a new front in their jihad against the plastics chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) this week.
Op-Eds
CAFE Oh Nay, Standard Has Hurt
The Detroit auto industry is clearly a victim of CAFE. But it’s not the only victim, and it’s not even the most prominent one.
Blog
Misplaced Priorities on Stem Cell Research
Sigrid Fry-Revere has a post over at The Hill Blog questioning the merits of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. As her new…
Newsletter
Stem Cells, Regulating Lawn Mowers and Standing up to the SEC
The National Academy of Sciences argues for continued use of embryonic stem cells. The Environmental Protection Agency requires that new gas-powered lawn mowers come with…
Newsletter
Economic Projections, Comcast Sues the FCC and Cholesterol Drugs
A new report from the Federal Reserve projects continued slow growth and a weak business climate. Comcast sues the Federal Communications Commission over…
Newsletter
Stem Cells, Mad Cow Disease and Cuba’s Police
Scientists hail a new breakthrough in stem cell research. A federal Appeals Court rules that the U.S. Department of Agriculture can forbid private meat packers…
Op-Eds
Cholesterol Drug Scare Shenanigans
Why is the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine encouraging a cancer scare over the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin? Is he overcompensating for past…
News Release
Public Funding for Stem Cell Research: Boon or Boondoggle?
Debates over the ethics of research using human embryonic stem cells continue long after the Bush Administration’s ban on federal tax-funding for such research. But,…
Study
Public Stem Cell Research Funding
The best way to make progress in stem cell research is to allow the private sector to grow, unimpeded by regulation and controversy.
Newsletter
Fannie Mae, HIV Rates and Greenhouse Gases
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae announces a shakeup of its senior management. A new study finds New York City’s HIV infection rate to be three times…
Newsletter
West Nile, Union Corruption and Federal Courts
The West Nile Virus has infected individuals in 28 states so far this year. The Los Angeles Times publishes a 3-part series on corruption allegations…
Blog
Anna Tomalis, R.I.P.
Last Friday, I attended the funeral of a remarkable 13-year-old girl named Anna Tomalis. For the past three years, Anna had been battling terminal…
Op-Eds
Sick Patients Need Cutting-Edge Drugs
The story of Anna Tomalis trying to recieve a compassionate usage exemption from the FDA to treat her cancer.
Newsletter
Drug Approval at the FDA, Childhood Obesity and the War on Bottled Water
Industry analysts characterize the Food and Drug Administration’s drug approval process as especially “conservative.” An anti-obesity advertising campaign targeted at children generates controversy. Local government…
News Release
Reform Needed at the Food and Drug Administration
Washington, D.C., August 14, 2008—In order to best serve the interests of the nation’s patients and doctors, the structure of the…
Newsletter
Global Warming Apathy, Pelosi on Oil Drilling and Government Health Care
A new survey suggests that public concern about global warming is on the decline. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reverses her opposition to a vote on…
Study
FDA’s Bad Medicine
How the dispersed knowledge problem affects drug safety analysis and how markets and technology will help patients…
Blog
Ending the HIV Travel Ban
The federal government is finally in the process of lifting the travel ban on individuals who are HIV positive. For many years, one of…
Newsletter
Losses at Fannie Mae, Satellite TV Merger and Toxic Chemicals
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae reports a loss of $2.3 billion. Cable TV provider Dish Network proposes a merger with DirecTV. Former New York Times environmental…
Newsletter
Global Warming Allergies, Change at the SEC and Accounting for the Cost of Government
Global warming gets blamed for an increase in allergies. Paul Atkins steps down as Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Taxpayer advocates observe…
Newsletter
Costs of Regulation, FDA Reform and Global Warming Skepticism
The House Small Business Committee hears testimony on the costs of federal regulation. Patient advocates urge lawmakers to pass legislation forcing the Food and Drug…
Citation
Telling McDonald’s it can open franchises only in the white part of town
Newsletter
FCC Takes on Comcast, GM Crops and the Housing Bailout
The Federal Communications Commission puts Comcast in the hot seat over its network management practices. Security becomes the number one cost for scientists developing genetically…
Newsletter
Ethanol’s Sins, Menthol Cigarettes and Property Rights
USA Today details the troubling side effects of using corn-based ethanol as an auto fuel. Legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration authority over…
Newsletter
Environmentalism, Vioxx and Carbon Offsets
The Washington Examiner editorializes on how environmental policies expand the scope of government power. Merck wins two appeals in lawsuits related to its painkiller Vioxx.
Newsletter
Gas Prices, Farm Subsidies and Vioxx Lawsuits
Oil company executives are grilled on high gas prices by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Congress prepares to override President Bush’s veto of the…
Newsletter
Immigrant Intelligence, Hybrid Vehicles and the Cell Phone Pregnancy Scare
U.S. intelligence agencies seek help recruiting new immigrants as analysts and translators. Nissan to invest $115 million to mass produce batteries for electric and hybrid…
Newsletter
Gas Prices, DEA and Telephone Trends
The AAA reports that record high gas prices might soon begin to fall. CEI launches the “Politics of Pain” campaign to end harassment of pain…
News Release
“Politics of Pain” Campaign to Defend Patients’ Rights
CEI fighting for millions of Americans who live in pain because their doctors are afraid of being harassed or arrested by the DEA.
