[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 208 (Monday, October 27, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63718-63719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25485]


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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 17th 
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 a.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. on Monday, December 1, 2008, and 
8 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2, 2008, at the 
Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC 20201. The meeting will be open to the public with attendance 
limited to space available. The meeting also will be Web cast.
    For most of the first day of the meeting, SACGHS will review a 
preliminary draft report that addresses questions about whether gene 
patents and certain licensing practices are affecting patient access to 
genetic tests. SACGHS will discuss the draft report and determine 
whether it is ready to be released for public comment. Later in the 
day, the Committee will hear presentations about diagnostic laboratory 
standards and technology platforms and the role they are playing in 
innovation of genetic technologies. On day two, the Committee will 
continue to discuss priority issues and future study topics and come to 
a final decision about its strategic study plan.
    As always, the Committee welcomes 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

[[Page 63719]]

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 and genomic 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 Web cast, will be available at the following Web site: http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/sacghs.htm.

    Dated: October 20, 2008.
Jennifer Spaeth,
Director, NIH Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy.
 [FR Doc. E8-25485 Filed 10-24-08; 8:45 am]
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