Announcements

Announcements

June Board Meeting
The NWHN board of directors will meet next in Washington, DC on June 12 & 13. NWHN members are welcome to join us for parts of the weekend.  If you are interested in attending, please contact the office for more information at 202.682.2640.

PharmedOut Conference
PharmedOut is pleased to announce a conference,  "Prescription for Conflict: Should Industry Fund Continuing Medical Education (CME)?" to be held on June 25, 2010 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  We intend to address the questions:  Does industry funding of CME adversely affect the educational content of CME?  If so, can commercial bias be assessed and mitigated? Speakers will include Paul Thacker, an investigator for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa); Carl Elliott, MD, PhD, author of Better than Well; and several former industry insiders. The conference is open to the public.  Continuing education credits for physicians and nurses will be available. For more information, please see: http://www.pharmedout.org/conference.htm.

NWHN Launches New Website!
Have you ever been to www.nwhn.org and thought, “I wish my favorite non-profit had a more robust navigation system for their website”?  Maybe you said to yourself, I wish those bright women at the Network would blog because I, for one, would love to read what they are up to! Or possibly, since NWHN provides so much wonderful, scientifically based health information, you wished you could read health questions and answers online.  Your wishes have come true.  Now you can do all of that — and more! 
If you are looking for something on the web, check out our newly re-developed site.  It’s the same web address, www.nhwn.org, but has new features created to enhance your experience.  You can now search all the health information you need in a more streamlined and efficient way.  And, you’ll be able to share each page with your friends, either via e-mail or your favorite social network medium: Facebook Twitter, Buzz and many others. You’ll still be able to find the latest news on our home page as well as electronic back issues of the Women’s Health Activist newsletter.  We invite you to check out the new site for yourself.  Clicking on our logo will always bring you back to the homepage, and for your viewing pleasure, you’ll even find new pictures in the rotation.  Endless hours of joy await you as you rediscover www.nwhn.org!

Become a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Consumer Rep
The FDA seeks consumer representatives to serve on its many advisory committees. The FDA brings its most challenging issues to its advisory committees for guidance and advice.  Committees help the FDA respond to new and cutting-edge issues on topics ranging from birth control to osteoporosis, from mammograms to cancer drugs, and implants -- the whole scope of drugs and devices used in health care, in fact.  Thanks to the efforts of groups like the NWHN, advisory committees include consumer representatives, in recognition that we, as members of the public, are experts about our own health. The meetings are open to the public and some garner a lot of media attention, although many don’t. The NWHN testifies before the committees on important women's health issues because, regardless of any media attention, the committees always have a big influence on the FDA.  This is real democracy in action, with citizens engaging in the government's decision-making process, and you can get involved!  Anyone can nominate qualified persons (including themselves); candidates are required to provide detailed information on financial holdings, employment, and research grants/contracts to assess any conflicts of interest. For more information on being a consumer representative, visit the Committee Membership section on FDA’s website at:  www.fda.gov/oc/advisory or call (301) 827-1220.