House Passes 21st Century Cures Act

USA Today (11/30, Shesgreen, 5.28M) reports that the House on Wednesday approved the 21st Century Cures Act, a “sweeping health policy bill…aimed at sparking medical innovation, strengthening mental health services, and curbing the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic.” The legislation “cleared the House with broad bipartisan support, 392-to-26.”

The New York Times (11/30, Steinhauer, Tavernise, Subscription Publication, 13.9M) says Senate passage “appears likely” next week, “even though Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, has taken to the floor twice to criticize the bill as a windfall for drug companies, with too few safety provisions.”

Medscape (11/30, Lowes, 339K) reports the additional funding is “one of the most applauded parts of Cures.” The funds will be distributed for NIH “research projects that include the Cancer Moonshot, the Precision Medicine Initiative,” the “Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, and regenerative medicine using stem cells.” Group “such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology like increased funding for the Cancer Moonshot, while neurologists like more money for the BRAIN Initiative.”

Source: ASCO