Political Quotes

“It opens the door for bad actors to take advantage of terminally ill patients. It is the FDA's job to ensure that drugs are safe and effective. We can't trust manufacturers to act as a gatekeeper. The important thing to know is there is already a safe process for terminally ill patients to access experimental treatments. Under the Expanded Access Program, 99 percent of applications are approved, and they are done in a speedy way. This process is not merely a rubber stamp. The FDA plays a vital role in ensuring these experimental treatments are safe. Even more important, in 19 States that have passed right-to-try laws, patients using an investigational drug can lose their hospice care; and in 6 States, they can be denied home healthcare. These are the very people who depend on hospice and home care, and they could lose those services. This is not a humane, patient-centered bill for people who are facing death. It is just a dangerous pathway for bad actors to exist. Let's go with the positive ability right now that we have. Ninety- nine percent of those desperate people looking for hope will get it from the Food and Drug Administration. So I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 5247.”