House Committee Advances FDA User Fee Reauthorization Bill

The House Energy and Commerce Committee 6/7 voted 54 to 0 to advance legislation to reauthorize FDA user fee programs, sending the measure to a floor vote. The FDA Reauthorization Act reauthorizes the programs for another five years beginning 10/1. Both the House and Senate are expediting the legislation to avoid layoff notices being sent, an action FDA says it will have to take beginning in July if not reauthorized.

The committee rejected two amendments on off-label use information — HR 1703 (the Medical Product Communications Act of 2017) and HR 2026 (the Pharmaceutical Information Exchange Act). Earlier this week, Public Citizen and 12 other patient advocacy groups urged committee members to reject the two bills (see story).

The committee did approve an amendment to allow certain hearing aids to be sold over the counter. Another amendment approved sets the stage for future discussions on strategies to control prescription drug costs.