July 09, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today extolled the tremendous promise of advanced everyday technologies, like iPhones, in helping to detect, fight, and end cancer as well as other diseases and illnesses. Senator King, along with Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), spoke about the importance of supporting innovation in the field of health technology at a briefing entitled, “How Can Innovation Help End Cancer: A Briefing with Clinical Patient Advocacy, Technology and Public Policy Leaders.”
“Technology is always improving and it holds the power to make a huge difference in terms of the general health of the population. The high technology – the powerful computing – is a big part of the future of doing something about this absolutely awful disease that has affected countless people,” Senator King said. “But to use the technology that’s available to all of us on a daily basis to increase our health and decrease risks is an important part of the solution as well.”
Earlier this year, Senators King and Fischer introduced the Preventing Regulatory Overreach to Enhance Care Technology (PROTECT) Act, which promotes innovation by providing clarity to FDA’s regulatory process surrounding health IT that will help to improve focus on products that pose a legitimate risk to human health. This more effective, risk-based framework boosts patient safety by prioritizing FDA’s attention to technologies that pose the greatest health risk, and it also protects low-risk health IT from unnecessary regulatory burdens that stifle opportunities for job creation, innovation, and improved care. To read a USA Today op-ed by Senators King and Fischer on their bill, click HERE.
Today’s briefing, which was sponsored by IBM, also included a panel discussion featuring:
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