Merkley slams 21st Century Cures Act

[think]

Merkley slams 21st Century Cures Act

By Elizabeth Hayes - Dec 6, 2016, 2:00pm PST Updated Dec 6, 2016, 4:02pm PST

The 21st Century Cures Act cleared its last procedural hurdle Monday in the U.S. Senate, paving the way for final approval today and President Barack Obama’s signature.

The bill, which the House overwhelmingly passed last week, promotes cancer research and opioid treatment programs. It also speeds government approval of drugs and medical devices, allowing for simpler studies or smaller trials than currently required. The total cost is $6.3 billion.


~Snip~

“There’s no real funding of those programs,” he said. “It’s terribly deceptive and a major give-away in terms of deregulating the pharmaceutical industry and a major victory for the tobacco companies. They make money off addiction. They are gung-ho to pass this bill, and it will result in a tremendous amount of death and an increase in health care costs. All we get in exchange are rainbows.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, also an Oregon Democrat, also expressed concerns about the legislation. A spokesman said Wyden believes the bill "doesn’t address the high and rising cost of prescription medicine, while giving drug companies favorable treatment, doesn’t guarantee funding for important causes like addressing the opioid crisis, and doesn’t include a provision he authored to help keep vulnerable children and their families safely together.”...


Read more:
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2016/12/06/merkley-wyden-react-to-controversial-21st-century.html

[metroins]

1. It's better than nothing

And Congress has been full of nothing for the past 6 years.

[elleng]

2. Good to see these 2 working together.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren On Why She Opposed Cures Act [View all]

Very good video interview with Warren at the link. It's towards the bottom of the page.


Keller @ Large: Sen. Elizabeth Warren On Why She Opposed Cures Act

December 18, 2016 2:11 PM By Jon Keller


BOSTON (CBS) — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she was proud of the work that Democrats and Republicans did together on the 21st Century Cures Act, a major medical-research bill–but she wanted more.

“The one overarching that I kept pushing for was there must be more funding for the national institutes of health, medical research,” she said. “That’s the way you really get cures.”

Sen. Warren sat down with WBZ political analyst Jon Keller last week, and explained to him why she eventually came to oppose the bill.

“After the election, the House snatched the bill back, it took out almost all the NIH funding, added in a bunch of giveaways to the pharmaceutical industry, to the tobacco industry of all things, to big donors, and it took some opioid money and said the incoming administration will decide to spend it wherever they want to spend it.”..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8383075

CAN sanity prevail? '“It’s terribly deceptive and a major give-away in terms of deregulating the pharmaceutical industry and a major victory for the tobacco companies.'