Mark Udall: “I have a constituent who was in the middle of chemotherapy for her breast cancer. Of course, this was a life-threatening…”

“I have a constituent who was in the middle of chemotherapy for her breast cancer. Of course, this was a life-threatening situation. She was informed by her oncologist halfway through her chemotherapy treatment that she had to find another oncologist. Now, my colleagues can imagine the kind of turmoil and stress that that added to her situation where she was literally battling for her life. Now, she fought back hard and was able to get that care but only after a great deal of time had passed. My point in all of this is the Patients' Bill of Rights would make this a lot less likely to happen to the people who surround us in our communities, our families, our fellow citizens and our friends. I think it is important to remember the Patients' Bill of Rights is about people, it is not about regulations. It is about people. It is about providing the best possible health care for all Americans. Again, I would remind all of the Members here that the Patients' Bill of Rights is about putting those medical decisions back into the hands of patients and doctors and not allowing those decisions to be made by somebody who is maybe sitting 2,000 miles away in front of a television or computer screen. I urge adoption. This is a very, very important piece of legislation.”