Senator Warren Announces Legislation to Advance Medical Research in Remarks at Families USA Conference
WASHINGTON, DC - In remarks at the Families USA Health Action Conference in Washington, DC today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren announced plans to introduce new legislation to advance medical research.
"Over the past fifty years, the American system of medical innovation has transformed the health of literally billions of people around the world. But today, that incredible system is in trouble," Senator Warren said in her speech.
"The first problem is the government. Congress used to work in a non-political, bipartisan way to expand NIH funding. But since the early 2000s, Congress has been strangling the funding needed for medical research....The second problem is with the drug companies. Over the last ten years, some of our wealthiest drug companies - those that capitalize on government research to generate billions of dollars in revenues through the sale of blockbuster drugs- have found another way to boost profits."
Senator Warren then laid out her plan to introduce a bill that would help strengthen the federal investment in critical medical research.
"Next week, I plan to introduce legislation - the Medical Innovation Act - that would substantially increase federal funding for the National Institutes of Health," said Senator Warren. "We can increase this funding without raising taxes or stealing support from other critical programs. Instead, funding would come from blockbuster drug companies whenever they break the law and enter into major settlement agreements with the government... We should make it easier for the biggest drug companies to help develop the next generation of cures - and harder for them to profit from breaking the law and defrauding taxpayers."
A PDF copy of Senator Warren's remarks is available here.
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