Government Reform and Oversight Committee
February 12, 1998
Chairman Dan Burton (R-IN)
Good morning. Today is the second in a series of hearings
examining issues and problems related to alternative medical
treatments for millions of desperately ill Americans. Last
week we heard from panels of patients and experts who discussed
what they saw as the failures of the Food and Drug Administration
and the National Cancer Institute. Today we will hear potential
solutions to the problems that have been brought before us,
one in the form of legislation that would give all Americans
the freedom to choose their own medicine.
As I stated last week, the purpose in holding these hearings
is to lay the issues out on the table, and deal with them
in the most reasonable and balanced way. I want to stress
that, in no way is this a partisan issue. Dedicated Members
from both parties have raised concerns about patient access.
We owe it to the millions of patients, their families and
loved ones who are not satisfied with conventional treatments
to give our time, energy and attention to this important issue.
It was mentioned last week by Members of this Committee that
these hearings are not necessary, that these issues have been
heard before and that the FDA Modernization Act has been passed
to fix these problems. However, we heard last week, that serious
problems still exist, that these issues are still tremendously
important to Americans, and that the FDA Modernization Act
fails to properly address patient access to medicine.
America is perhaps the world leader in allowing its citizens
individual liberties, but sadly, we continue to deny our citizens
the guardianship of their own health. Without health, all
other liberties become meaningless.
Medicine is often a matter of individual choice. We know
from modern science that what works for some, does not work
for others. Last week we heard testimony that some of our
country's top government scientists are not promoting the
progress of medicine, but instead holding it back. Today we
will hear from a highly-esteemed doctor, researcher and advisor
to the German Congress on the medical advances that have taken
place in Germany in the past 20 years that further illustrate
how American medicine is, in some ways, behind the times.
The meager advances by conventional medicine in the treatment
of most chronic and deadly diseases has made alternative and
complementary therapies overwhelmingly popular. But we learned
last week that our system needs significant change so that
these therapies are given the opportunity to be tested in
scientific but rational ways. Not too many dying cancer patients
want to be a part of a test where they will end up with a
placebo and no chance for survival. Today we will hear testimony
about different, but reliable, means of testing alternative
and complementary therapies.
Defending good science, and weeding out fraud are the reasons
bureaucrats use to closely monitor independent researchers
and doctors who use alternative therapies. However, we heard
from patients and doctors last week who felt that FDA interference
is often unnecessary and unwanted. Americans do not want the
government, in this case the FDA, telling them how to treat
their illnesses, especially when state-level protections are
already in place to safeguard the public from those who might
do harm to patients. Today we will hear from a doctor who
sits on the Michigan State medical licensing board who will
tell us about those state-level protections.
The FDA process for patient access to unapproved treatments
is a good example of the nature of the federal government
to micromanage the lives of individual Americans, often unnecessarily.
Access to a treatment in the development process that is not
approved by the FDA generally requires participation in a
clinical trial. But if a patient does not qualify under the
strict guidelines of a trial, the FDA then makes a life or
death decision as to whether a patient can have the treatment
under a special exception. If the answer is "no," their access
is shut off, with no appeal.
Today we will hear from a young girl with little chance of
living because of her illness. She has undergone the most
painful rituals of conventional medicine; chemotherapy, massive
radiation and a full bone marrow transplant that nearly killed
her. Now she wants to take a non-toxic treatment to keep her
cancer from coming back, but the FDA won't let her. This little
girl is a perfect example of why Americans want change.
These hearings will explore ways to help those hundreds of
thousands who get left out of the FDA-sponsored experimental
treatments, and, therefore left out in the cold. We have some
highly esteemed Members of Congress who will continue the
discussion of last week about the legislation entitled the
Access to Medical Treatment Act and how that legislation can
assist American citizens in accessing the treatment they and
their physician believes is best for them.
Seriously ill patients want options. I have stated before
that the terminally ill should have access to any potential
cure available. But chronic illnesses can be just as bad.
If conventional medicine does not offer a cure, the chronically
ill should have a right to try an alternative without the
headache of bureaucratic red tape, and government officials
who think they know better. The government ought to be helping
them find new alternatives - not throwing up roadblocks.
It's time for the Congress to show true leadership in providing
greater access to new and promising treatments. Good health
and medicine require it.
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