Reciprocity Ensures Streamlined Use of Lifesaving Treatments Act of 2017
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Reciprocity Ensures Streamlined Use of Lifesaving Treatments Act of 2017
This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish 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.
For a product to be granted reciprocal marketing approval, the product's sponsor must submit a request to the FDA that demonstrates: (1) the product may be sold in at least one country from a specified list of countries, (2) the FDA and listed countries have not withdrawn approval of the product because of safety or effectiveness concerns, and (3) there is a public health or unmet medical need for the product.
The FDA may: (1) require post-market studies of a product granted reciprocal marketing approval, or (2) decline to approve a product that is not safe and effective.
The FDA must grant or decline reciprocal marketing approval not later than 30 days after receiving a request. During that period, the FDA and product sponsor must negotiate and finalize product labeling and, for a medical device, classify the device.
Congress may pass a joint resolution to grant reciprocal marketing approval to a product that the FDA declines to approve through this process.
User fees apply to requests for reciprocal marketing approval.
The FDA must encourage the sponsors of potentially eligible products to request reciprocal marketing approval.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on October 26, 2017. 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 October 26, 2017: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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?
Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced it on October 26, 2017, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Republicans.
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 October 26, 2017, 3241 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3241 days ago, on October 26, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers