Action Item: 21st Century Cures Act (now HR 34)

Update: This bill passed both Houses. The only member of the Utah delegation who voted against it was U.S. Senator Mike Lee.

Background

  • First passed through the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015 (362 pages).
  • Stopped in the U.S. Senate.
  • Dormant for several months.
  • Revived in 2016.
  • Dormant for several more months.
  • Brought back in late November, combined with “The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,” and inserted into the “Tsunami Warning” bill.
  • Now numbered HR 34, “21st Century Cures Act,” and 996 pages long.
  • Last week HR 34 flew through the U.S. House of Representatives, with affirmative votes cast by all Utah Congressional Representatives.
  • Yesterday the U.S. Senate had a cloture vote, which passed. This gives us a little more time to lobby, but removes the possibility of amendment.

The vote in the U.S. Senate could happen any minute.

The bill allows licensing standards to be lowered for testing experimental drugs, medical devices (like ECT: Electroconvulsive Therapy), and biologics–the category that includes vaccines. This bill mandates that we give 9 billion dollars to the NIH (National Institute of Health) to fund development of more drugs and vaccines. And it allocates 550 million dollars to the FDA to fast track these products to the market. These products will be allowed to bypass gold standard testing protocols for safety and efficacy. There will be no large clinical trials. Novel statistical analyses and clinical experience (aka anecdotal evidence) will be used to “prove” safety and effectiveness.

(Please note that this type of evidence has never been considered viable in proving that vaccines are unsafe or ineffective.)

Although vaccines have not been discussed openly in debate surrounding this bill, they are included under “biologics.”

The following sections directly affect vaccine policy.

Sections 3024, 3091, 3092, 3093

Section 3024: Deals with changes in informed consent rules. All patients receiving treatment from any medical doctor may, without their knowledge, be enrolled in a clinical trial, as long as risk to the patient is minimal.

3091-3092: Fast track and incentivize vaccines outside of the normal regulatory review and licensing processes.

3093: Recommendations for use of vaccines in pregnant women. This is so dangerous. Aluminum toxicity is cumulative. It should not begin in the womb–especially when these “biologics” have not been properly tested. This section also further distances manufacturers from liability.

This bill is being promoted as a benefit to those with life-threatening illnesses, so that we can hurry and get medicines to them. But there is a huge difference between offering untested medicines, devices, and vaccines to people who are ill and may be dying, who can choose to participate or not, and rushing more vaccines onto the market, untested, and adding these to the CDC schedule for both children and adults, including pregnant women, who are otherwise healthy, and yet, due to state mandates, may be forced to receive these vaccines.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is no reason, whatsoever, to force this bill through in this kind of a rush, in a lame duck session, unless it is to keep legislators and the public from knowing what is there until it is too late. We’ve read this script. We know the outcome cannot be not good.

Text of the 996 page bill, for your convenience:

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20161128/CPRT-114-HPRT-RU00-SAHR34.pdf

More information available here:
http://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/21st-century-cures-act/

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150722006034/en/National-Vaccine-Information-Center-Proposed-21st-Century

We all need to call our Senators NOW to tell them to vote NO on HR 34. CALLS are far more effective than emails or letters, so please take a few minutes to actually CALL the offices of both of your state senators. Key information and specific instructions on how to do this (including contact info for your senators) can be found at this link: http://conta.cc/2fVnp1q

In addition, please call the Leaders of the Senate:

Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell
Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 224-2541
Fax: (202) 224-2499

Local office: Lexington, KY
Phone: (859) 224-8286

Majority Whip: John Cornyn
Washington, DC
Phone: 202-224-2934

Local office: Austin, TX
Phone: 512-469-6034
Fax: 512-469-602

Republican Conference Chair: John Thune
Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 224-2321
Fax: (202) 228-5429
Toll-Free: 1-866-850-3855

Local office: Sioux Falls, SD
Phone: (605) 334-9596

Republican Conference Vice Chair: Roy Blunt
Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 224-5721
Fax: (202) 224-8149

Local office: Kansas City, MO
Phone: (816) 471-7141
Fax: (816) 471-7338

Republican Policy Chair: John A. Barrasso
Washington, DC
Main: 202-224-6441
Fax: 202-224-1724
Toll-free: 866-235-9553

Local office: Casper, WY
Main: 307-261-6413

Minority Leader: Harry Reid
Washington , DC
Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax: 202-224-7327

Local office: Las Vegas , NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020
Fax: 702-388-5030

Minority Whip: Dick Durbin
Washington, D.C.
Phone: 202.224.2152
Fax: 202.228.0400

Local office: Chicago, IL
Phone: 312.353.4952
Fax: 312.353.0150

Democratic Conference Secretary: Patty Murray
Washington, D.C.
Phone: (202) 224-2621
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Toll Free: (866) 481-9186

Local office: Seattle, Washington
Phone: (206) 553-5545
Toll Free: (866) 481-9186
Fax: (206) 553-0891

Democratic Policy Chair: Charles Schumer
Washington, D.C.
Phone: (202) 224-6542
Fax: (202) 228-3027

Local office: New York, NY
Phone: (212) 486-4430
Fax: (202) 228-2838