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BY AMY DOMINELLO
Media General News Service
WASHINGTON – Not long after head coach Mark Gottfried hired Robert Scott as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Alabama, the two went on a recruiting trip.
At night, Gottfried heard Scott in his hotel room, groaning in pain. Scott was diagnosed with stomach cancer and he died in 2001, just eight months after his diagnosis.
Gottfried soon became involved with Coaches vs. Cancer, a joint effort between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Gottfried, along with four other college basketball coaches, came to Capitol Hill Tuesday to urge Congress to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco and increase money for cancer research and prevention.
“We want to support it with everything that we have,” Gottfried said.
The coaches were joined by 600 supporters and cancer survivors for an annual effort in Washington to lobby lawmakers.
“The bottom line is our elected officials … need to do more and we need to ask them today to redouble their efforts,” said Dr. John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.
Additional regulation and funding face obstacles in Congress, as lawmakers are focused on fixing the nation’s economy before adjourning to return home to campaign.
“I think it’s an uphill battle,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
The coaches and the Cancer Society want the Senate to approve legislation passed by the House that would give the FDA the power to curtail tobacco marketing, control nicotine levels and enlarge government warnings on tobacco products.
The bill has divided the tobacco industry. Some tobacco companies, including North Carolina-based Reynolds American Inc., argue that by limiting marketing the bill would protect the industry leader, Virginia-based Philip Morris USA.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has pledged to prevent the bill from being debated by the Senate, said his spokesman Chris Walker. Burr believes the bill would overburden the FDA and move it away from its core mission of regulating the nation’s food and drug supply, Walker said.
But Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., is among lawmakers urging the Senate to allow the federal regulation of tobacco.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he said.
The coaches and advocates also stressed the importance of additional funding in the fight against cancer. Congressional funding committees have added $1.1 billion in federal cancer prevention and detection programs for the next fiscal year for the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
But the funding is unlikely to pass this year and even if it did, it’s not enough, advocates said. They are seeking a $1.9 billion increase, or 6.5 percent, for federal cancer research and prevention.
Smith said if Congress fails to act this year, advocates hope cancer regulation and research will be a priority under a new Congress and presidential administration.
“It’s not if, but when,” he said.
Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or adominello@mediageneral.com
Media General News Service
WASHINGTON – Not long after head coach Mark Gottfried hired Robert Scott as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Alabama, the two went on a recruiting trip.
At night, Gottfried heard Scott in his hotel room, groaning in pain. Scott was diagnosed with stomach cancer and he died in 2001, just eight months after his diagnosis.
Gottfried soon became involved with Coaches vs. Cancer, a joint effort between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Gottfried, along with four other college basketball coaches, came to Capitol Hill Tuesday to urge Congress to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco and increase money for cancer research and prevention.
“We want to support it with everything that we have,” Gottfried said.
The coaches were joined by 600 supporters and cancer survivors for an annual effort in Washington to lobby lawmakers.
“The bottom line is our elected officials … need to do more and we need to ask them today to redouble their efforts,” said Dr. John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.
Additional regulation and funding face obstacles in Congress, as lawmakers are focused on fixing the nation’s economy before adjourning to return home to campaign.
“I think it’s an uphill battle,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
The coaches and the Cancer Society want the Senate to approve legislation passed by the House that would give the FDA the power to curtail tobacco marketing, control nicotine levels and enlarge government warnings on tobacco products.
The bill has divided the tobacco industry. Some tobacco companies, including North Carolina-based Reynolds American Inc., argue that by limiting marketing the bill would protect the industry leader, Virginia-based Philip Morris USA.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has pledged to prevent the bill from being debated by the Senate, said his spokesman Chris Walker. Burr believes the bill would overburden the FDA and move it away from its core mission of regulating the nation’s food and drug supply, Walker said.
But Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., is among lawmakers urging the Senate to allow the federal regulation of tobacco.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he said.
The coaches and advocates also stressed the importance of additional funding in the fight against cancer. Congressional funding committees have added $1.1 billion in federal cancer prevention and detection programs for the next fiscal year for the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
But the funding is unlikely to pass this year and even if it did, it’s not enough, advocates said. They are seeking a $1.9 billion increase, or 6.5 percent, for federal cancer research and prevention.
Smith said if Congress fails to act this year, advocates hope cancer regulation and research will be a priority under a new Congress and presidential administration.
“It’s not if, but when,” he said.
Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or adominello@mediageneral.com