28 February 2017 - President Trump on Tuesday called on the FDA to speed the approval of drugs to treat life-threatening diseases, deriding the agency’s current process as “slow and burdensome.”
In an address to a joint session of Congress, Trump said that the FDA approval process “keeps too many advances … from reaching those in need.”
He noted that his speech was taking place on Rare Disease Day and cited the case of Megan Crowley, who was diagnosed with Pompe disease, a rare condition that leads to muscle and respiratory damage, and who was among the first lady’s guests during the joint session of Congress.