In the News
Responding to the dire challenges faced by local news, U.S. representatives are launching bills to protect local news outlets and "to recognize the vital role that local journalists play in promoting good governance and accountability."
Members of Congress from both parties expressed immense frustration on Wednesday at big increases in insulin prices and vowed to work together on legislation to prevent more people from dying because they could not afford the lifesaving medicine.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette threatened pharmaceutical company executives with government intervention Wednesday during a congressional hearing into the rising price of insulin.
"I think we can all agree that the system is broken," DeGette, D-Denver, said about the method the companies use to set their insulin prices.
Colorado public health officials routinely allow oil and gas companies to begin drilling and fracking without obtaining federally required permits that limit the amount of pollution they can discharge into the air.
"We believe it is necessary to the goal of collecting actual emissions data and working with real numbers, rather than models or estimates." Brian Cain, Extraction Oil and Gas spokesman
The only three companies that manufacture insulin in the United States will testify in the House next week about their pricing practices.
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee, said the three companies— Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi— will testify April 10.
U.S. Representative Diana DeGette's bill to halt federal marijuana prohibition in states where cannabis is legal was introduced on Monday, April 1, but she insists the issue is no joke.
Colorado's Rep. Diana DeGette, representing the 1st Congressional District, introduced a bill aimed at bringing down the cost of insulin. The bill would make permanent a new FDA policy which would speed up the approval of generic version of certain drugs.
That would include insulin.
DeGette met with Colorado patients to talk about their struggle the cost of insulin.
Insulin users say the skyrocketing cost of the drug is forcing them to make some tough decisions. Rep. Diana DeGette met with some diabetics in Colorado this week to discuss the issue.
With the smokestacks of a large Suncor Energy oil refinery behind her, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette announced Tuesday that she will soon introduce legislation requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to set strict emissions standards for hydrogen cyanide, a pollutant that is pumped out of the refinery and into the air above Denver daily.