Thomas Daschle: “last year I introduced S. 1378, the Access to Medical Treatment Act of 2001. This bill would allow patients to use…”

“last year I introduced S. 1378, the Access to Medical Treatment Act of 2001. This bill would allow patients to use certain alternative and complementary therapies not approved by the FDA. Alternative therapies constitute an increasingly accepted part of medicine. At the National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine, scientists are working to expand our knowledge of alternative therapies and their safe and effective use. Additionally, more Americans are turning to alternative therapies in those frustrating instances in which conventional treatments seem to be ineffective in combating illness and disease. The Access to Medical Treatment Act support patient choice while maintaining important patient safeguards. It allows individuals, especially those who face life-threatening afflictions for which conventional treatments have proven ineffective, to try an alternative treatment. This is a choice rightly made by patients. Treatments covered under the Access to Medical Treatment Act must be prescribed by an authorized health care practitioner. The practitioner must fully disclose all available information about the safety and effectiveness of any medical treatment, including questions that remain unanswered because the necessary research has not been conducted. The bill includes detailed informed consent requirements.”