The newly passed bill, known as the 21st Century Cure Act, has landed on Barack Obama's desk and received a green light from the president. The legislation will be addressing the reforms federal policy on mental health care, approval of experimental treatments and medical research.
A powerful law that is considered as a milestone for health care includes big allocations for important areas that have long been needing attention. The legislation includes a $4.8 billion allocation for the National Institutes of Health with a breakdown of $1.8 billion for the "cancer moonshot" project. The $1.6 billion is for brain diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, $500 million for the Food and Drug Administration and $1 billion for the opioid epidemic.
As per Washington Post, the president found the 21st Century Cure Act a great landmark for the betterment of the people. "We are now one step closer to ending cancer as we know it, unlocking cures for diseases like Alzheimer's, and helping people seeking treatment for opioid addiction finally get the help they need," Obama stated.
This bill covers the "cancer moonshot" initiative for new cancer treatments. This movement was proposed by Joe Biden after his son died of cancer in the previous year.
In terms of FDA's approval for new drugs and medical equipment, the new bill will be a key to making the process faster. The formalities to get approval from the agency requires a large number of documents as it requires documentation of results from numerous Randomized Controlled Trials that usually take years to complete.
With the 21st Century Cure Act, an observational data and registry information to the FDA will be enough to prove the drug or equipment's efficacy and safety. Along with this is a move to reinforce mental health parity laws and to make mental health treatments accessible to all US residents as reported by Tech Times.
