[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 83 (Monday, June 27, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
      LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE MEDICARE ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS OF MS

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                        HON. JAMES C. GREENWOOD

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 27, 1994

  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity recently to meet my 
constituent, Greg Vellner, of Southampton, PA, who was named as this 
country's Father of the Year by the National Multiple Sclerosis 
Society. Greg has been able, through courage and perseverance, to 
direct his energy into the successful role as Mr. Mom as he takes the 
lead role in raising his daughter Jenny and his son Tommy.
  Greg was diagnosed in 1984 with multiple sclerosis [MS], which is a 
chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. The 
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimates that 
between 250,000 and 300,000 young adults have been stricken by MS. The 
disease generally strikes twice as many women as men. Approximately 
two-thirds of those people who have MS experience their first symptoms 
between the ages of 20 and 40. Although MS patients generally have a 
normal life expectancy, this disease can cause muscle weakness or 
rigidity, difficulty with balance, vision problems, and paralysis.
  In Greg's case, MS has resulted in the loss of his vision. 
Unfortunately, there is no proven treatment to stop the disease or 
reverse its progression. Experimental drugs are being evaluated for 
their effects on reducing the frequency and severity of exacerbations, 
or slowing progression.
  The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] approved the licensing of one 
drug, Betaseron, in July 1993. The FDA declared that a clinical trial 
which involved 372 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple 
sclerosis, indicated that administration of Interferon beta-1b by 
injection every other day decreased the frequency of flare-ups and kept 
more patients free of flare-ups over a 2-year treatment period.
  Nearly 30 percent of MS patients suffer from a relapsing-remitting 
form of the disease in which symptoms disappear totally or partially 
after a flare-up and are followed by a period of stability that can 
last for months or years. Cost of the drug is estimated to be $1,000/
month per patient. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society reports that 
few of their 42,000 members can afford the cost of self-administered 
Betaseron.
  Under current law, Medicare currently covers the cost of self-
administered drugs only in limited circumstances, that is, blood 
clotting factors, immunosuppressive drugs, Erythropoietin, osteoporosis 
drugs, and effective January 1, 1994, oral cancer drugs.
  Today, in the hope of assisting Greg and others like him, I have 
introduced legislation to provide Medicare coverage for the cost of 
FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of MS. It is my hope that 
Betaseron is the first of many drugs to receive approval by the FDA, 
and that Congress will adopt this important legislation.

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