Increased Funding for Lung Health Research

Funding for lung health at the National Health Institute (NIH) will be increased after Congress passed a continuing resolution that included an additional $619 million for fiscal year 2007.

Declaring that 2007 will be "the year that this legislation will finally become law," Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), along with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) introduced strong, bipartisan legislation that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco products at a press conference Feb. 15th. The legislation will crack down on tobacco company marketing to children and ban candy-flavored cigarettes and has strong support from the leaders of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the American Lung Association.

The Association, along with the other five public health interveners in the Department of Justice lawsuit against the tobacco companies, formally notified the U.S. Court of Appeals of their plans to appeal the remedies portion of lawsuit against the major tobacco companies. In August, U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler found the major tobacco companies guilty of federal racketeering charges in the U.S. Department of Justice case aimed at ending Big Tobacco's 50-year campaign of deception and fraud, states a press release from the Association.

"While strongly condemning industry tactics, Judge Kessler said she was severely limited by an earlier court ruling in the sort of remedies, or sanctions, she could levy," stated an Association rep. "However, it is critical for the Department of Justice to also appeal this remedies ruling and ask for tougher restrictions.

"The American Lung Association Network is growing and making difference in the lung health of children with asthma, adults who want to stop smoking, and seniors who struggle with COPD," reads Association literature. "Many lung disease patients rely on Medicare to help pay for their medical care. Unfortunately, due to a quirk in Medicare law, some patients do not have access to proven, vital pulmonary rehab therapy."