DeLauro Speaks on the House Floor in Opposition to the 21st Century Cures Act
WASHINGTON, DC (November 30, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today spoke on the House Floor in opposition to the 21st Century Cures Act.
Click here to watch the full remarks.
Here are the remarks, as delivered:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. The 21st Century Cures Bill aims to promote biomedical innovation and mental health, noble goals that I share. But unfortunately, this bill sets a dangerous precedent and has the potential to do more harm than good for millions of Americans.
In its attempt to speed up the drug and device approval process, this legislation neglects the very people who clinical trials are meant to help—that is the patients. Rather than protect those who rely on the health care system, it reduces the already weak regulations on medical devices, allows drugs to be approved with only limited evidence of the drug's safety and efficacy, and rushes the use of new and unproven antibiotics.
For example, 13 models of St. Jude's defibrillators are currently being recalled for sudden battery failure that has been linked to at least 2 deaths, 10 people fainting, and 37 people feeling dizzy.
When the cost of our prescription drugs is skyrocketing, this bill does nothing to combat excessive prices.
Finally, this bill strips away funding from the Public Health Prevention Fund. And while the bill authorizes $4.8 billion to the NIH over the next ten years, on average a mere $480 million a year, this is barely a quarter per year of what the House passed last year. Let us not forget that we would need to provide $7 billion a year to keep up where we were in 2003.
There is also no guarantee that the appropriators will follow through and provide funding each year—as we have seen with the Public Health Prevention Fund, which has been used to fill appropriations shortfalls.
Illness touches us all. We owe it to the patients who depend on the standards that we set—and unfortunately, I believe the standards in this bill are both weak and dangerous. This legislation is the wrong path forward and I strongly oppose it. I thank you and I yield back the balance of my time.