Thursday
May082008
Elizabeth Edwards, Lance Armstrong on the hill to discuss cancer and work to be done
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 11:21AM
There was a full committee hearing this morning on "Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century" with witnesses that included Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate and former Senator John Edwards, in addition to Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner and chairman and founder of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, headed by Senator Kennedy, is dedicated to renewing the "war on cancer." With the Senators praising the witnesses for their work and the witnesses doing likewise towards the Senators, the hearing was very inspirational with first-hand accounts from cancer survivors.
Mrs. Edwards, who is being awarded with the "Mother of the Year Award", was insistent on the fact that health insurance matters. She recounted a story of a young women who had cancer but did not have health insurance while highlighting the difficulties she faced while raising children.
Mr. Armstrong then told his story and was adamant on the fact that early detection was imperative. He was insistent that no matter what age, race or sex, everyone has the right to the proper health care - health care that can prevent, help with early detection, and treat disease.
With testimonies like this, and the confidence and hard work being put forth by these witnesses and others, hopefully the proper funding and work can be done to eradicate this disease.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, headed by Senator Kennedy, is dedicated to renewing the "war on cancer." With the Senators praising the witnesses for their work and the witnesses doing likewise towards the Senators, the hearing was very inspirational with first-hand accounts from cancer survivors.
Mrs. Edwards, who is being awarded with the "Mother of the Year Award", was insistent on the fact that health insurance matters. She recounted a story of a young women who had cancer but did not have health insurance while highlighting the difficulties she faced while raising children.
Mr. Armstrong then told his story and was adamant on the fact that early detection was imperative. He was insistent that no matter what age, race or sex, everyone has the right to the proper health care - health care that can prevent, help with early detection, and treat disease.
With testimonies like this, and the confidence and hard work being put forth by these witnesses and others, hopefully the proper funding and work can be done to eradicate this disease.
Legislation would improve lives of terminal cancer patients
Oncologist and cancer researcher Dr. Emil Freireich stated that too few cancer patients enjoy the benefits of compassionate care drugs due to strict requirements for participation in drug experiments that leave a large number ineligible, a process that he said is “torturing our own citizens.” Anna Tomalis, a thirteen year old cancer patient, stood calmly at her mother’s side while Liz Tomalis expressed surprise at the difficulty of attaining compassionate care drugs for her daughter after doctors told the family to halt treatment of her rare form of liver cancer.
Frank Burroughs, the founder of the Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs, pushed for the passing of this bill and said that every drug for which his organization urged early access has been approved by the FDA. Burroughs added that the FDA’s use of scientific tools that are not modern and a FDA report that “recommends provisional approval” are hindering the ability for current cancer patients to gain access to potentially life-saving drugs.