Children in Missouri Need Your Help: Tell your state lawmakers

Take Action!

I tear up a little whenever I see those commercials about the kids with cancer. The reason they make me cry is not because the kids are suffering (which is bad enough). It’s because these kids seem so joyful in their suffering. They have hope. And true hope, with faith, is an occasion for joy.

I’m asking you today to bring hope to children with rare diseases and cancer in Missouri. Your voice counts and all you have to do is contact your Missouri state legislators and ask them to support the Hope for Missouri Patients Act.

The Hope for Missouri Patients Act (HB 2643) needs to pass both chambers before the end of session. The legislation is sponsored by Representative Melanie Stinnett, who is a real champion for children and families in Missouri.

Please email and call your Missouri lawmakers today.

HB 2643 will cut red tape so that patients in Missouri can get better access to healthcare. Without costing taxpayers anything. Without burdening doctors or increasing insurance premiums. Without creating any new government at all.

The bill allows patients with rare diseases and deadly cancers to obtain access to individualized treatments based on their own personal DNA and biological characteristics.

The problem is that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is not equipped to approve of these innovative treatments. The FDA process is based on an industrialized model meant for the widescale manufacture of drugs and treatments. The process also costs tens of millions of dollars and takes years. It is not cost-effective to go through this process to help 1 cancer patient or even 1,000 kids. Thus, treatments that might help these patients are sitting on the shelf, even as they are available in Europe and other places.

States are tired of waiting. Patients are desperate for care. Thus, almost 20 states have passed legislation to cut red tape so that patients can use these individualized treatments.

Contact your Missouri legislators today and urge them to vote for the Hope for Missouri Patients Act, sponsored by Rep. Melanie Stinnett. The legislation is in the House as a standalone bill (HB 2643) and in the Senate as part of a larger bill (HB 2372).