Christopher Shays: “I expressed some skepticism about both the short- and long-term impact of the proposed approach on our ability to…”

“I expressed some skepticism about both the short- and long-term impact of the proposed approach on our ability to develop, procure and use new medical countermeasures against chemical, biological or radiological weapons. Thanks to the work of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Government Reform and the Select Committee on Homeland Security, the bill before us today represents a substantial improvement over the original proposal. This bill would create agile, proactive capabilities in meeting the threat of unconventional weapons, capabilities we do not have today. Part of the value of Project BioShield would be purely deterrent. Just having the ability to develop and stockpile vaccines and antidotes decreases the likelihood, or the lethality, of a biological attack. However, as I indicated in my earlier colloquy with Chairman Tauzin, any authority to actually use experimental drugs or medical devices in emergency situations has to be defined and wielded with nothing less than surgical precision. Prior informed consent in connection with the administration of experimental therapy is a basic human right, a right no one should be asked to surrender except under the most extraordinary of circumstances.”