On the recordJuly 9, 2015
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the 21st Century Cures Act. This bill represents meaningful reform for patients with rare or chronic conditions. I would like to highlight one provision I am so proud of, the OPEN Act. There are 1 in 10 Americans who suffer from a rare disease. That is 10 percent of the country. Over 95 percent of these diseases have no treatments. Patients like Candace and Laura from the Tampa Bay Area need FDA- approved safe and effective treatments. Laura has no treatment options, and Candace did her own research and took a medication off label and is now in remission. The OPEN Act will incentivize major market drugs and combination drug products to be repurposed to treat rare diseases and put them on label. The 30 million Americans with rare diseases need your ``yes'' vote. Vote for this bill. Vote for patients.
