Check the map: Has your Representative heard about H.R.6664?
Hundreds of you have joined us this month in reaching out to your Congressional Representative about H.R. 6664 - the Innovation in Pediatric Drugs Act of 2023 - but we still need more voices. This is a critical moment because the House of Representatives might act on a comprehensive rare disease proposal soon, and we want this bill included in that package.
This legislation would ensure that drugs for rare diseases are studied in children and that drug companies are accountable for completing pediatric study requirements. Many of you who’ve reached out to Capitol Hill about this legislation in recent days have shared your very personal stories about why children with rare diseases must be included in the drug development process.
Here’s what one mom wrote in a letter to her Representative about this bill:
Our daughter fought Acute Myeloid Leukemia for 17 months and had no real treatment options. We need you to help create a safe place in the medical field for kids to not just be given treatment that’s over 50 years old.
The map below shows the Congressional districts that have been contacted through our action center about H.R. 6664. If your district isn’t on this map, then we really need your help to make sure your Member of Congress hears about this legislation from a constituent.
More about H.R. 6664:
For the past several years, Children’s Cancer Cause has advocated that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have the same authority to penalize companies who fail to complete required studies for pediatric drugs as they currently have for studies of adult drugs. The bipartisan Innovation in Pediatric Drugs Act of 2023 - introduced in December by Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas) - strives to achieve that equity.
This legislation would make needed improvements to the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) and the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) and builds upon the promise of the Research To Accelerate Cures and Equity (RACE) Act.
“The biology of cancer in children is different from cancer in adults,” said our CEO Steve Wosahla at the time of the bill’s introduction. “Drugs to treat children must be developed that are tailored for children.”