of posthospital skilled nursing fa- cility services — and also to count time spent in observation or in the emergency department toward the three days.
• Said AMA should identify and adopt policies to address the “high and escalating costs” of generic drugs and to support legislation to ensure fair and appropriate generic drug pricing.
• Adopted new policy stating that medical reasons should be the only basis for exemption from required immunizations.
• Said all states should set the age to buy e-cigarettes to 21 and called for federal, state, and local govern- ments to increase taxes on “elec- tronic nicotine delivery systems” to discourage their use.
• Called on AMA and other bodies to study reasons for medical students’ failure to match in a residency program and to identify “poten- tial pathways for reengagement in medicine following an unsuccess- ful match.”
• Asked for more time to discuss the Council on Ethical and Judicial Af- fairs’ (CEJA’s) proposed modern- ization of the AMA Code of Ethics before taking a vote on whether to adopt it.
• Adopted new policy requesting an increased focus on physician-led, multidisciplinary pain manage- ment services, including better in- surance coverage and practitioner training.
• Sent back for additional work CE- JA’s proposed ethical standards for telemedicine practice.
• Referred for further study a reso- lution advocating elimination of “incident-to” billing.
• Said payers should not be allowed to use contracts requiring physi- cians to accept virtual credit card payments as a condition of inclu- sion in an insurance network.
• Directed AMA to work to ensure standard public health screenings, preventive services, and treatment
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Member of the Texas Bar since 2002 Attorney at Law August 2015 TEXAS MEDICINE 17
Newsmakers
Michelle Berger, MD, received the Texas Ophthalmological Association Distinguished Service Award, the association’s highest honor. Those who have exhibited a lifelong dedication to ophthalmology patients and to the profession receive the peer recognition award.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Perinatal Advisory Council selected the following physicians to represent rural family physicians and general obstetricians on two newly established subcommittees: Alicia Cleaver, DO; Thiendella Diagne, MD; Tony Dunn, MD; Jake Margo Jr., MD; and Jacob Ornelas, MD.
Jay Horton, MD, professor of internal medicine and molecular genetics at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, has been elected a councilor of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), a medical honor society. As a member of the ASCI Council, he will assist in planning meetings and selecting new members. In addition, ASCI announced the election of James de Lemos, MD, to the organization. Dr. de Lemos is professor and associate director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Program at UT Southwestern and cardiology service chief at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Jonathan D. Leffert, MD, has been inducted as vice president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Dr. Leffert is managing partner of North Texas Endocrine Center and is active in the teaching program at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.
Olivier Lichtarge, MD, professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, was among five recipients of the Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Excellence in Research Award. Dr. Lichtarge’s computational work focuses on the molecular basis of protein function and interaction, the design of peptides and proteins with new functions, and the interpretation of genome variations in health and disease.
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