[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 112 (Friday, July 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. CHARLIE NORWOOD

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 24, 1996

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3814) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and 
     State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes:

  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Chairman. I rise to express my support for the 
gentleman from Iowa's amendment. This amendment would prevent the U.S. 
Patent Office from issuing patents to health care providers for medical 
procedures they create.
  The fact that I must speak on such an issue greatly disturbs me. As a 
health care provider, I have always understood that my job was to help 
patients. It is not to make myself rich. It is not to make myself 
famous. My job is to improve the health and well-being of those people 
who place their trust in my hands.
  When I became a dentist, I vowed to act in my patients' best 
interest. It is the moral and ethical duty of every health care 
provider to be a patient advocate. Patenting medical procedures, which 
essentially forces other health providers to compensate the original 
provider for their procedure, is a twisted way to practice medicine. 
Congress has a moral duty to ensure that we do not allow the Federal 
Government to place its stamp of approval on this essentially selfish 
act.
  In addition to the ethical implications of medical procedure patents, 
there is also the matter of increased costs. Unlike the Clinton 
administration, which took its one shot at improving the health care of 
Americans by nationalizing the health care system, this Congress has 
made significant and substantive efforts to make health care more 
accessible and more affordable. Allowing health providers to patent 
procedures they develop to help their patients will not only create 
perverse incentives in the health care market, it will also drive up 
the cost of health care. If we do not pass this amendment, we will be 
condemning patients and their employers to escalating health care 
costs. We may also be forcing providers into using less advanced 
procedures because they want to avoid the additional costs of using the 
patented procedure.
  The health provider community must not allow itself to succumb to 
those corrupt forces that have overtaken the health payer industry. 
Once the provider turns his back on the patient, there will be no one 
to ensure that the patients interests are protected. The health 
provider community must never forget the great privilege it has to 
improve their patient's physical condition.
  The United States cannot afford to be on the trailing edge of this 
issue. already, over 80 countries ban medical procedure patents. These 
countries include Britain, France, and Israel, as well as countries 
like South Africa, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia. For the sake of patients 
in this country, this Congress must take a stand and protect patients 
from opportunistic health providers and rising health care costs.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Ganske amendment.

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