OSHA Announces Interim Rule on Whistleblower Protections for Reporting Violations of Affordable Care Act
Last Friday, OSHA published an interim final rule, and invited public comment on whistleblower protections for reporting violations of Affordable Care Act's health insurance reforms. The Affordable Care Act contains various provisions to make health insurance more affordable and accountable to consumers. Among the policies to achieve its goals, the Affordable Care Act's Section 1558 provides protection to employees against retaliation by an employer for reporting alleged violations of Title I of the act or for receiving a tax credit or cost-sharing reduction as a result of participating in a Health Insurance Exchange or Marketplace.
The interim final rule can be viewed at www.dol.gov/find/20130222/. Comments, which will be accepted for 60 days, may be submitted electronically via the federal e-rulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov, or by mail or fax. Faxed submissions, including attachments, must not exceed 10 pages and should be sent to the OSHA Docket Office at 202-693-1648. Comments submitted by mail should be addressed to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2011-0193, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210.
A fact sheet about filing whistleblower complaints under the Affordable Care Act is available at http://www.osha.gov/Publications/whistleblower/OSHAFS-3641.pdf.
OSHA's press release on this issue can be found here.

Kathleen Sharp's book about pharmaceutical whistleblower Mark Duxbury will be released in paperback on September 1, 2012. It is
Duxbury died before the litigation could be completed. Sharp (pictured) examines how a big pharmaceutical company can push its drugs through doctors and into patients' veins before any of them are aware of the true risks. Sharp explains how federal regulators facilitated the pharmaceutical companies and reacted slowly to the reports of adverse reactions. Even today, EPO is on the market, albeit with enhanced "black box" warnings. 

The Oregon legislature is debating a bill which would protect from retaliation any hospital employee who reports misconduct that he/she believes is a violation of law, policy, or professional standards. Under current Oregon law, nurses already enjoy these protections.
held its first oral argument in a case under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Last November, the ARB gave .jpg)