The hearing for LB 1172, a bill to get timely access to cancer data, had its public hearing on Thursday, February 1 in front of the Health and Human Services Committee. Bill sponsor State Senator Brad von Gillern shared how cancer has severely impacted his family while advocating for researchers to have more timely access to data in the state’s cancer registry. Until the last few years, researcher requests were processed in a timely fashion and researchers got the data they need to study cancer trends, discover causes of cancer, and to monitor the effectiveness of cancer prevention strategies and treatments.
Testifying were Director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center Dr. Joann Sweasy, Director of the Lynch Cancer Center Dr. Laura Hansen, Director of the Pediatric Cancer Research Institute Dr. Donald Coulter, and Nebraska Cures Executive Director Amanda McGill Johnson. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). did not testify on the bill or communicate their position on the bill to the senators.
The Omaha World Herald covered the hearing and communicated with DHHS. The remarks from the department don’t address that researchers used to get this data more quickly, and that neighboring states are able to release their data in a timely fashion. Read the OWH article here.
Additionally, Nebraska Cures President Dr. David Crouse wrote a column advocating for LB 1172 that was published by the Nebraska Examiner. Read Dr. Crouse’s column here.
