PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · May 14, 2008
Early Access to Treatment Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require a drug that is not approved for marketing, but that is under clinical investigation for a serious or immediately life-threatening disease condition in patients for whom no comparable or satisfactory alternative drug or other therapy is available, to be made available for treatment use by an individual patient if: (1) the drug is intended to treat such condition; (2) there is no comparable or satisfactory alternative available to treat that stage of the disease; (3) the drug is under investigation in a controlled clinical trial as an investigational new drug or all clinical trials have been completed; and (4) an application for treatment use has been filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a licensed practitioner which sets forth the intended use of the drug, an explanation of the rationale for its use, the treatment protocol, statements of the practitioner's qualifications to use the drug and familiarity with its safety and effectiveness, and a notarized statement of the patient's informed consent.
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, within 30 days after an application is filed, to grant permission to the sponsor to furnish such drug to the practitioner under such terms as the sponsor, practitioner, and patient determine to be appropriate, including any agreement to waive liability. Provides for application transmission by telephone or other means of rapid communication and for rapid action on it in an emergency situation.
Requires (current law authorizes) the Secretary to approve an application under the Public Health Service Act for a fast track product determined to have an effect on a clinical endpoint or on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit.
People & committees
Rep. Jones, Walter B., Jr. [R-NC-3] · R–NC
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.6047 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.6047 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.6047 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.6047 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.