Earlier this month, state and specialty medical societies convened in Chicago at the annual American Medical Association House of Delegates meeting.  The meeting is an important focal point for forwarding health and public policy within AMA and throughout the physician community.

The ATS sponsored four resolutions considered at the AMA House of Delegates meeting – two dealing with tobacco policy and two dealing with EPA environmental policy.  The first tobacco resolution urged the AMA to join the ATS as an amicus filer in support of the American Academy of Pediatrics federal lawsuit to compel FDA to regulate e-cigarettes.  In 2008, Congress granted FDA authority to regulate e-cigarettes and FDA has expressed its intent to regulate, but as of yet has taken no concrete action to regulate such products.  The resolution was adopted by the AMA House of Delegates.

The second tobacco resolution asked AMA to develop policy on FDA’s proposal to create a low-nicotine product standard for cigarettes.  In 2017, FDA released its vision for tobacco control which includes creating low-nicotine/non-addictive combustible cigarettes, in hopes of reducing the addictive potential of cigarette products.  Implicit in FDA’s low-nicotine vision is keep e-cigarettes available on the market for nicotine users to use as a replacement.  FDA has issued an advance notice of proposed rule-making seeking public comment on how to move forward with a low-nicotine product standard, and the resolution was adopted by the AMA House of Delegates.

The third resolution asked AMA to send a letter to EPA opposing the agency’s effort to roll back emissions controls on glider kit trucks.  Glider trucks are reconditioned diesel truck engines that are placed in new chassis and sold as “new.”  However, glider kit trucks do not meet new engine diesel emissions standards and in fact can emit as much as 50 times more pollution than newer diesel engines.  In 2016, EPA issued a rule to limit the number of glider kit trucks, but EPA Administrator Pruitt has issued a proposed rule to roll back limits in glider kit truck sales.  The resolution was adopted by the AMA House of Delegates. The final resolution urged AMA to join sister medical societies in opposing EPA’s proposed new rules requiring reproducibility and public posting of all data EPA uses in regulatory decision making.  The resolution was not adopted by the AMA House of Delegates, but AMA had already taken action to express its concerns with the proposed policy.