Medical innovation bill sails through Congress

In one of their last moves of the year, U.S. lawmakers cleared legislation designed to boost medical innovation and stem the growing opioid abuse crisis. President Barack Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act into law on Dec. 13. The bipartisan legislation authorizes $6.3 billion over 10 years to be funneled to the National Institutes of Health, the Food & Drug Administration, and states. But the money is not guaranteed. Congress would still need to approve the funding each year. About $4.8 billion of the money is authorized for NIH to fund a cancer initiative, a genomics-based precision medicine effort, and research on the human brain. Another $1 billion would go to states to help deal with opioid addiction. The remaining funds are slated for FDA to accelerate the approval of new drugs and devices and to hire new scientists, doctors, and engineers. Spearheaded by Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and