WASHINGTON D.C. (WKZO-AM) — After years of hearings, negotiations, amendments, bipartisanship, and editing, the sweeping landmark 21st Century Cures Act has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republican Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Democratic U.S. Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado co-sponsored the package of bills that is designed to simplify and expedite the process for approving new drugs and medical devices.
It also allocates $4.8 billion more to the National Institutes for Health and other agencies to promote research to find cures for diseases that have not been cured already.
Critics fear that expediting drug approvals will mean more risks to patients. It’s expected to mean bigger profits for firms like Stryker, Perrigo and Pfizer. The firms have complained for years that it just takes too long to get products approved. That may be the most controversial part of the package.
The act has at least given temporary relief from the partisan wrangling that has deadlocked most of this congressional session, passing 392-26. In fact this is the second time it passed the U.S. House. Getting it through the Senate has proven to be tougher.
Several major medical initiatives have been rolled into this one package. It will allow a drug firm to create drugs that are genetically designed for one person or group of people, which has been called the “Precision Initiative.”
Other programs in the package include: A billion dollars to tackle Opioid addiction, and funding for many of the goals of Vice President Joe Biden’s “cancer moonshot.” It also funds the president’s brain initiative to better understand what is taking place between our ears.
There will be more money to research and combat Alzheimer’s and other chronic diseases.
There is also more money for the National Institutes of Health which will be overseeing the research and for the FDA, which will be testing the results of that research before it goes to the pharmacy.
A vote in the U.S. Senate is scheduled for early next week.
There are some prominent opponents in the upper chamber, including Sen. Bernie Sanders who says it does nothing to bring down the price of prescription drugs, only gives more handouts to big Pharma. Elizabeth Warren also says they bill has been “high-jacked” by the Pharmaceutical companies for their own benefit.
The race is on to get it approved before the legislation dies with the start of the next session and while President Obama is still President and willing to sign it. It’s fate in the new congress and a Trump administration is not clear.
It is extremely popular with patient advocacy groups. This reporter saw first hand the feeling of hope it gave to the parents of pediatric cancer patients at a recent rally organized by community support groups.
“The clock is ticking, patients don’t have time, they want answers, they want cures,” Upton said.
The hope is that by funding the basic research, exploring the genome, and figuring out the brain, that more of the stubborn, complex and vexing health problems that continue to shorten lives can be cured, or at least we can buy more time for the patients while those cures are sought.
