Reciprocity Ensures Streamlined Use of Lifesaving Treatments Act of 2020
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Reciprocity Ensures Streamlined Use of Lifesaving Treatments Act of 2020
This bill establishes a reciprocal marketing approval process that allows for the sale of a drug, biological product, or medical device that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) if the product is approved for sale in another country and there is an unmet need.
Specifically, the bill requires the product's sponsor to demonstrate, among other things, that their product has been approved in one of the specified countries, the FDA and listed countries have not withdrawn approval because of safety or effectiveness concerns, and there is a public health or unmet medical need for the product.
The FDA may only decline approval if the FDA determines that the product is not safe or effective. The FDA must make such a determination not later than 30 days after receiving a request.
Congress may pass a joint resolution to grant reciprocal marketing approval of a product that the FDA declines to approve through the reciprocal process.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 12, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 12, 2020: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced it on March 12, 2020. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 12, 2020, 2373 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2373 days ago, on March 12, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers