CONTROVERSIAL DRUG ISSUES MOVING THROUGH CONGRESS
Several healthcare issues are beginning to make headway in Congress, with drug importation, biodefense and National Institutes of Health (NIH) legislation taking important steps toward becoming law in the past week.
Lawmakers recently reached a compromise on drug importation, with both chambers agreeing to language in the Homeland Security appropriations conference report on Sept. 25 that would allow citizens to personally transport prescription drugs from Canada.
The House also recently passed biodefense and NIH reauthorization bills. The House approved Rep. Mike Rogers' (R-Mich.) biodefense bill, H.R. 5533, by voice vote on Sept. 26. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt lauded the bill as bolstering the agency's existing BioShield program. The bill "is an important complement to these efforts, as it supports much-needed late-stage research and development funding and will allow us to make milestone-based advance payments under BioShield," Leavitt said in a Sept. 27 statement.
Rep. Joe Barton's (R-Texas) NIH reauthorization bill passed the House Sept. 26 by a vote of 414-2. The agency has not been reauthorized since 1993.
The bill would authorize a 5 percent increase in the agency's budget for fiscal years 2007 to 2009. "This legislation will strengthen the research efforts of the NIH and will provide the foundation for future scientific and medical advancement," Barton said. The legislation would also launch an agency-wide electronic reporting system to catalog all of its research activities and limit the size of the agency to 27 institutes and centers.
These issues have prompted vigorous debate across the aisle, between Congress and the Bush administration and between various advocacy groups. While the drug industry and the administration oppose importation as unsafe, many lawmakers have pushed for it. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) has been a vocal proponent of importation, going as far as placing a hold on Andrew von Eschenbach's nomination to be the next FDA commissioner pending approval of some sort of importation.