Schakowsky Statement in Opposition to the 21st Century Cures Bill
Washington, DC- Today, Congresswoman Schakowsky released the following statement after voting no on the 21st Century Cures Act:
“I am a strong supporter of biomedical research. I voted in favor of the 21st Century Cures bill when it came up in the Energy and Commerce Committee and then again the last time we voted on it on the House floor. The bill before us today is a different matter.
When 21st Century Cures was first passed in committee, it included $10 billion in mandatory funds for the NIH. This money would go towards life-saving research on diseases like Zika, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. By the time the bill reached the House floor today, the funding had been slashed to $3.8 billion with the condition that the NIH would only get the funds if future Congresses appropriate them.
One of the most troubling aspects of this legislation is that it would loosen the standards under which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prevents dangerous drugs and medical devices from reaching consumers. That is yet another giveaway to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. We need to make the FDA’s standards stronger--not weaker. As we speak, thirteen faulty models of St. Jude’s defibrillators are being recalled for a malfunction that has caused deaths and serious harm to its users. One of those users is a beloved member of my staff, who was forced to undergo yet another dangerous surgery to remove the faulty implant. These lethal devices came to the market after the FDA ‘accelerated’ their approval, and did so without substantial clinical data. We are loosening the FDA’s standards to benefit corporationsat the cost of human lives. This is absolutely unconscionable.
The 21st Century Cures bill voted on by the House today also represents a missed opportunity for this Congress to improve the lives of our constituents and state of healthcare in our country. The people we represent have asked us to incentivize innovation in healthcare, address the sky-rocketing cost of prescription drugs, and make sure that the medical products that reach the hands of consumers are safe and effective. Congress responded with a bill that gives the pharmaceutical industry opportunities for even greater profits, provides lackluster funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), does nothing about prescription drug costs, and potentially allows for dangerous –sometimes deadly- drugs and devices to reach the market.
There are parts of it this bill that I wholeheartedly support. In fact, my Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act is included in it. This would allow universities across the country to access grants to provide their students with mental health services -something that we urgently need. I also strongly support the proposal to expand Medicaid to children with severe mental illness and President Obama’s Cancer Moonshot initiative.
However, the industry giveaways, meager NIH funding, weakened FDA regulations, and missed opportunities to tackle pressing issues like prescription drug pricing outweigh its benefits. There is a clear need for Congress to work in a productive, bipartisan way to ensure that biomedical research provides cures and solutions to our nation’s most complex health problems. Unfortunately, this bill put industry over individuals and completely missed the mark.”
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