House Approves Act to Compare Devices

The House voted 225-204 Aug. 1 to pass H.R. 3162, the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007. The Senate version of the bill, S. 1224, passed by a vote of 68-31 Aug. 2.

The House bill includes “significant funding” — $375 million by 2011 — for comparing the effectiveness of medical devices and prescription drugs, and making those results publicly available, according to Consumers Union.

But the legislation still faces some challenges. According to Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), “President Bush has pledged to veto counterpart legislation in the Senate.”

More information on H.R. 3162 can be found at thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03162:. More information on S. 1224 can be found at thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01224:.