It is fashionable today for political pundits to put down virtually everything Congress does. While certain criticism has been deserved, people back home need to know about the good things that congressmen accomplish for their constituents.
Recently, U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) worked very effectively and voted for the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, legislation that modernizes the drug approval process at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and reauthorizes a very unique public and private cooperation between the biotechnology industry and the government, which benefits medical research and patients and saves taxpayers money.
Your readers need to know that the next generation of new medicines for cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, multiple sclerosis and many other deadly and debilitating conditions are being developed for patients by biotechnology companies in Illinois and elsewhere around the U.S. But the cutting-edge technology that biotech researchers use changes continuously. Long-outdated FDA regulations needed to be streamlined so that cures and therapies can come to the market as soon and as safely as possible.
As noted above, FDA legislation also allows biotechnology research companies to contribute millions of dollars directly to the government through “user fees” (instead of your tax dollars) to help pay for accelerated and improved review of new drugs.
People suffering from a wide array of diseases and conditions are the big winners here. Perhaps you know of someone personally who will benefit.
