Janice Schakowsky: “It opens the door for bad actors to take advantage of terminally ill patients. It is the FDA's job to ensure that drugs…”

“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, and we can't trust manufacturers to act as this gatekeeper. There is already a safe process for terminally ill patients to access experimental treatments. Under what is called the expanded access program, 99 percent of applications are approved. The expanded access program plays a vital safety role. I am very troubled by what can happen to patients in some States who undergo treatment from right-to-try companies. In 19 States, patients using an investigational drug could actually lose their hospice coverage; in 6 States, they could be denied home care coverage. These are the very people who are dependent on hospice and home healthcare, and this bill would cause them to lose that coverage. This is not a humane, patient-centered bill for people who are facing death; it is just a dangerous pathway for bad actors to exploit those very people. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 5247, and, again, I thank the gentleman for the opportunity to speak against this piece of legislation.”