by Margie O’Hara, Guest Contributor
Congratulations to those of you who supported and participated in Inlet’s “Shine a Light on Lung Cancer” vigil last November.
Our small effort, combined with over 250 other small efforts, actually proved that even a few could have a huge impact on our government.
The legislation, which we were hoping and praying for, has been enacted.
Just hours before the end of the 112th Congress (the constitutional deadline for approval of a bill passed by that Congress), President Obama signed into law the first legislation requiring comprehensive plans of research action for high mortality cancers, with lung cancer and pancreatic cancer given priority status for expedited attention.
The final product, the Recalcitrant Cancer Act, represents a compromise worked out between the Congress and the administration on the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act and the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act.
This landmark legislation requires the National Cancer Institute to develop scientific frameworks for addressing cancers with survival rates of less than fifty percent, with first priority attention to lung and pancreatic cancers.
The framework must be sent to Congress within 18 months. Continue reading