July 6, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, announced it has nominated Teresa Moran Schwartz, the Chair of Consumers Union’s Board of Directors, to serve on a newly created health advisory panel devoted to comparative effectiveness research (CER).
Ms. Schwartz was nominated to serve as a consumer representative on the board of governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), a nonprofit entity established by the new health reform law. The institute will conduct research to compare the effectiveness of medical treatments and guide the implementation of CER policy under the law.
Consumers Union has been an active supporter of CER as an important way to help patients and doctors make better informed decisions about medical care and prevention. “Teresa is a visionary whose experience, integrity, and common-sense ability to get results make her an ideal choice to serve the public interest on the PCORI Board,” said Jim Guest, President and CEO of Consumers Union. “Comparative effectiveness research is absolutely critical to reforming healthcare, and in all of my work with consumer leaders over the last several years, I can think of no one who would be better for this crucially important assignment.”
As Chair of Consumers Union’s Board of Directors, Ms. Schwartz presided over and helped direct a significant expansion of Consumers Union’s work in healthcare. She advocated and secured Board support for Consumers Union’s health reform campaign, with one key goal being a permanent enterprise devoted to CER. She also was a strong proponent of the launch of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, which provides comparative information for consumers on treatments, services and providers, and ConsumerReportsHealth.org, which provides independent, fact-based ratings and advice to consumers on how to get the best care.
Previously, Ms. Schwartz served as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, and she served as professor, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Associate Dean of Students at George Washington University Law School.
As the world’s largest independent consumer testing, survey, research, and advocacy organization, Consumers Union publishes Consumer Reports, Consumer Reports.org, and other products and services serving the consumer interest with a total combined circulation of more than 8 million.
Media contact:
David Butler, 202-719-5916