HB73 Testimony 22 May, 2024
Mr. Chairman and members, on behalf of Heartland Impact, I am here today to thank you for your work in this committee to improve patient’s access to care and share support for meaningful reform to allow patients greater access to needed treatments. Thank you for your consideration of this legislation to allow faster and better treatment for suffering patients.
Heartland Impact is the advocacy and outreach affiliate of The Heartland Institute, a nearly 40-year-old public policy research organization based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Both are independent, national, nonprofit organizations working to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. Heartland Impact specializes in providing state lawmakers with the policy and advocacy resources to advance free-market policies towards broad-based economic prosperity.
Heartland has strong support for removing barriers between patients and the treatments they need. State based “Right to Try” legislation built the necessary support in the states before being signed into federal law, allowing access to lifesaving medications, because your constituents shouldn’t have to win the lottery to get into a clinical trial to save their life. Treatments that were deemed safe but had not yet been determined to be effective were allowed to be used in certain circumstances. 41states (including Ohio) passed Right to Try because patients needed more access.
At the center is the doctor and patient relationship. Developing a treatment plan is based on informed consent. Physicians and their patients determine the best course based on the clinical experience of patients and their care teams, together with the physician and patient. Many medications developed for one purpose often show other benefits for other treatments. Off-label prescribing is when a doctor prescribes you medication that the FDA has approved for a condition other than the one your doctor is treating you for. This is common. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, one in five prescriptions written today are for off-label use.
Suffering patients should have access to medications to alleviate or cure their condition.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members.
Heartland Impact is here to provide you and your constituents with the best policy analysis. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance! If you have any questions or comments, contact Heartland’s government relations team at 312-377-4000 or www.heartlandimpact.org
