House Passes Pandemic Response, Over the Counter Overhaul Bill

The outlook for a bill to reauthorize anti-pandemic and other health emergency programs looks good as lawmakers seek to clear unfinished health business from the last Congress.

The House on Tuesday passed a bill (H.R. 269), 401-17, to renew $7 billion in emergency pandemic-prevention programs, modify the regulatory framework for nonprescription drugs, and establish user fees for drugmakers. The legislation is a new version of a bill (H.R. 7328) the House passed in December but the Senate never acted on.

Most of the emergency health programs covered by the bill expired Sept. 30 and were set to temporarily ...