00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 31                                                                                           
01 Requesting the United States Congress to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and                                              
02 Cosmetic Act.                                                                                                           
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS improving patient access to quality health care is a paramount national                                        
05 goal; and                                                                                                               
06  WHEREAS the key to improved health care, especially for persons with serious unmet                                     
07 medical needs, is the rapid approval of safe and effective new drugs, biological products, and                          
08 medical devices; and                                                                                                    
09  WHEREAS minimizing the delay between discovery and eventual approval of a new                                          
10 drug, biological product, or medical device derived from research conducted by innovative                               
11 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies could improve the lives of millions of United                                
12 States citizens; and                                                                                                    
13  WHEREAS current limitations on the dissemination of information about                                                  
14 pharmaceutical products reduce the availability of information to physicians, other health care                         

01 professionals, and patients and unfairly limit the right of free speech guaranteed by the First                         
02 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and                                                                 
03  WHEREAS the current rules and practices governing the review of new drugs,                                             
04 biological products, and medical devices by the United States Food and Drug Administration                              
05 can delay approvals and are unnecessarily expensive;                                                                    
06  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the Congress                                       
07 of the United States to address the important issues described above by enacting                                        
08 comprehensive legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301                              
09 - 395) to facilitate the rapid review and approval of innovative new drugs, biological products,                        
10 and medical devices, without compromising patient safety or product effectiveness.                                      
11  COPIES of this resolution, properly certified, shall be sent to the Honorable Bill                                     
12 Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the                              
13 United States and President of the U.S. Senate; to the Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of                              
14 the U.S. House of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable                                   
15 Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative,                                       
16 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.