Dive Brief:
- As the House and Senate prepare to vote this week on the sweeping 21st Century Cures Act, significant "angst" remains among some Democrats despite this year's bipartisan efforts to bring about mutually agreeable legislation, The Hill reported.
- Liberal Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced their opposition Monday and Tuesday, leading up to the Wednesday House vote, though the majority of Democrats are expected to support it.
- Final decisions remained in the air Tuesday as lawmakers awaited a “manager’s amendment” that would make some final adjustments to the bill.
Dive Insight:
While supporters suggest the bill provides progress in the right direction, its opponents argue it does too little while pandering to pharmaceutical companies.
Its aims include speeding up FDA drug and device approvals, providing $1 billion for the opioid epidemic, and providing $4.8 billion in additional funding to the NIH.
However, Warren believes the funding for the NIH and for opioid response is only a "fig leaf" and provides “political cover for huge giveaways to giant drug companies.”
Meanwhile, Sanders similarly accused the bill of "numerous corporate giveaways" and like Warren, also argued that it fails to guarantee the stated funding for medical research and opioid abuse. "This is a bad bill which should not be passed in its current form," Sanders said. "It's time for Congress to stand up to the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, not give them more handouts."
Neither current Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), nor incoming Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) had yet stated a position on the bill, according to The Hill.
The bill also received notable opposition this week from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley (Iowa), who has objected to the bill's dampening of disclosure requirements for payments from drug and device makers to doctors.