Vol. 1., No.5
November 14, 2011
- Congressional Supercommittee hears from brain tumor community as deadline approaches
- New advocacy kiosk debuts at Race for Hope – Philadelphia
- NBTS advocates for improvements to process for patients' informed consent
Brain tumor community communicates with Congressional Supercommittee as deadline approaches
There are two fast-approaching deadlines coming up for Congress. First, the current federal budget will expire November 18. That means that Congress must pass, and the President must sign into law, an additional "continuing resolution" (budget bill) in order to keep the federal government from shutting down. It is likely that Congress will pass another short-term budget bill to fund the government through the end of the calendar year. The larger looming deadline is November 23 when the Congressional Supercommittee must submit a plan to Congress to reduce the federal budget deficit by $1.5 trillion. Brain tumor advocates from around the country have dialed up the pressure on Supercommittee members to preserve, and even increase, biomedical research supported by the National Institutes of Health. Over the past few weeks National Brain Tumor Society volunteers have sent over 800 letters to Supercommittee Members and Congressional leadership. We also participated with other cancer organizations to lobby key Congressional leaders through the One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) coalition. Thank you advocates! Please continue to advocate at www.braintumor.org/takeaction.
New advocacy kiosk debuts at Race for Hope - Philadelphia
Three cheers to everyone who took part in the Race for Hope - Philadelphia! They not only walked and raced, they also advocated on behalf of the entire brain tumor community by sending letters to their Members of Congress at the new National Brain Tumor Society advocacy kiosk located at the event. They generated more than 100 letters to Members of Congress from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and others states during the Race for Hope by taking about one minute each to take action. We are hoping to make advocacy kiosks available at other events in 2012. Thank you Race for Hope participants!
NBTS advocates for improvements to process for patients' informed consent
For the first time in many years, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is going to modernize the rules related to providing informed consent to patients involved in research, including those in clinical trials. National Brain Tumor Society submitted a letter to HHS outlining our concerns and principles as the new rules are developed. First and foremost, we made it clear that we stand for patient safety and we will continue to refine our position when HHS makes a second set of draft rules public.
Thanks again for advocating – your voice makes a difference.
David F. Arons
Director of Public Policy
