Bradley Merrill Thompson, a Member of the Firm in
the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, the Washington, DC, office,
was quoted in an article titled "ONC Queried on Power to Regulate IT."
Following is an excerpt:
Leaders of the House Energy & Commerce Committee are questioning
the authority of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health
Information Technology to regulate health IT under a proposed
interagency framework.The letter (PDF), addressed to ONC head
Dr. Karen DeSalvo, questions whether the agency is overstepping its
statutory authority in proposing to oversee medium-risk health software,
levy a user fee on industry members and create a safety center to look
over the industry's safety record. It is signed by Reps. Fred Upton
(R-Mich.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joseph Pitts (R-Kent.) and Greg
Walden (R-Ore.) …Bradley Merrill Thompson, a lawyer with
Epstein Becker Green, and a member of a working group that advised FDA,
ONC and FCC on health IT regulations, likewise said the lawmakers are
asking good questions.Thompson, who has advocated for the
regulatory approach in public forums, said the framework "was very thin
on details so I think Congress has a legitimate right to ask for more
information before simply writing a large check."