In a rare act of bipartisanship, House members voted 344-77 on Friday in favor of the 21st Century Cures Act, which supporters say will speed the development and regulatory approval of medical breakthroughs. Critics say that speed would come at the expense of patients’ safety.
The Washington Post, July 8, 2015. The bill slated to land on the House floor on Thursday seems unassailable on its face – the 21st Century Cures legislation promises to modernize medicine and speed the development of lifesaving treatments. But a vocal chorus of physicians and pharmaceutical industry watchdogs warn that the bill is full of stealth provisions that could actually put sick people in harm’s way, by speeding the development of treatments that are neither safe nor effective.
Washington Post, June 17, 2015. A new study published Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found a startling link between pregnant women exposed to DDT and the breast cancer risk to their daughters.
USA Today, June 7, 2015. Advocates for children with rare diseases are watching closely a congressional effort to streamline the nation’s drug approval process because the bill includes a provision that would extend a federal program that rewards companies making remedies for these young patients.
The Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2015. Would a congressional bill designed to jump-start medical innovation end up lowering standards for approving new uses of existing medicines?
Can government regulators speed up the introduction of new treatments in hospitals and physician offices without sacrificing safety and effectiveness? Or does the expression “speed kills” hold true?