The changes in drug research, testing
Amid today’s interparty rancor, health care experts looked back on Monday at more tranquil times — say, December 2016 — when Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass legislation to fight cancer and other diseases, to boost research funding, and to speed potentially life-saving innovations to market. Panelists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health wondered whether the legislation, signed by President Barack Obama on Dec. 13, will live up to its promise. The 21st Century Cures Act authorizes $6.3 billion over 10 years in additional research spending, much of it for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is a major funding source for academic studies around the country. The act authorized such spending, yet panelists pointed out that doesn’t mean the money definitely will be in the budget, because it still must survive the scrutiny of both the new administration and Congress. Some panelists also cautioned that the act’s...