[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29654-29655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-4772]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Notice of Meeting: Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, 
Health, and Society

    Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given of the tenth 
meeting of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and 
Society (SACGHS), U.S. Public Health Service. The meeting will be held 
from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. on Monday, June 26, 2006 and 
8:30 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27, 2006, at the 
National Institutes of Health, Building 31, C Wing, Conference Room 6, 
31 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892. The meeting will be open to the 
public with attendance limited to space available. The meeting also 
will be Webcast.
    The first day of the meeting will include a review of the 
Committee's draft report and recommendations on pharmacogenomics, and a 
briefing on FDA's Critical Path Initiative. The Committee will also 
hear from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ont he status of 
a proposal to add a genetics specialty to the regulations implementing 
the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act Amendments. In addition, the 
Committee will discuss the status of its solicitation of public 
comments on the Committee's draft report ``Policy Issues Associated 
with Undertaking a Large U.S. Population Cohort Project on Genes, 
Environment, and Disease'' (posted at http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/sacghs/public_comments.htm).
    Issues to be discussed on the second day will include several 
presentations intended to provide the Committee with a better 
understanding of the impact of gene patents and licensing practices on 
access to genetic tests and services as well as deliberations about the 
Committee's next steps on this issue. The Committee will also be 
updated about the status of Federal genetic non-discrimination 
legislation and the work of the two interagency work groups monitoring 
claims made by companies advertising genetic tests on the Internet

[[Page 29655]]

and evaluating the public health impact of DTC marketing of genetic 
tests.
    Time will be provided each day for public comments. The Committee 
would welcome hearing from anyone wishing to provide public comment on 
any issue related to genetics, health and society. Individuals who 
would like to provide public comment should notify the SACGHS Executive 
Secretary, Ms. Sarah Carr, by telephone at 301-496-9838 or E-mail at 
[email protected]. The SACGHS office is located at 6705 Rockledge Drive, 
Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20892. Anyone planning to attend the meeting 
who is in need of special assistance, such as sign language 
interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, is also asked to 
contact the Executive Secretary.
    Under authority of 42 U.S.C. 217a, section 222 of the Public Health 
Service Act, as amended, the Department of Health and Human Services 
established SACGHS to serve as a public forum for deliberations on the 
broad range of human health and societal issues raised by the 
development and use of genetic technologies and, as warranted, to 
provide advice on these issues. The draft meeting agenda and other 
information about SACGHS, including information about access to the 
Webcast, will be available at the following Web site: http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/sacghs.htm.

    Dated: May 15, 2006.
Anna Snouffer,
Acting Director, NIH Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 06-4772 Filed 5-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M