We’re Speaking Out on Health Issues

NCHR scientists and health policy experts provide written and oral statements on a wide range of topics.

Here are many of the ways we have been Speaking Out on Health Policy Issues for the last few years. Whether the topic is legislation intended to cure diseases, proposed bans on BPA or other chemicals that disrupt your hormones, the importance of including women, people of color, and patients over 65 in clinical trials, or many other topics, you’ll gain a better understanding of our evidence-based analyses by reading these letters, statements, and testimony.

Here are the ways we have been Speaking out on Medical Treatments and Products, such as prescription drugs and medical devices that the FDA is considering approving, or is considering taking off the market because of serious risks. Whether the topic is Chantix, Addyi, Yaz, Essure, or medical products you’ve never heard of, you can find out more about what is known and not known about the safety and effectiveness of a wide range of products by looking through this section of our website.

NCHR Written Comment to NIH on Post-Trial Needs and Informed Consent for Research Participants Receiving Investigational Implantable Devices

May 22, 2026, NCHR submitted comments to NIH on their draft of resources needed for investigational implantable device trials, emphasizing the need for better planning to make sure that patients understand the medical and financial risks of having an experimental implant that may be found to be neither safe nor effective. Patients volunteering for clinical trials of implanted devices deserve to know the risks and be protected from long-term device-related risks and medical care.

Testimony of Dr. Diana Zuckerman at the FDA Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee on TRUQAP

FDA Oncology Advisory Committee on TRUQAP, April 30, 2026: NCHR president Dr. Diana Zuckerman expressed her concerns about the serious risks and uncertain benefits of TRUQAP given that there is no evidence that it improves overall survival

Testimony of Dr. Diana Zuckerman at the FDA Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer

FDA Oncology Advisory Committee, April 30, 2026: NCHR president Dr. Diana Zuckerman expressed her concerns about uncertain evidence in the SERENA-6 trial of camizestrant in patients with ER+HER2 advanced breast cancer in combination with a CDK4/6 inhibitor plus aromatase inhibitor upon detection of an ESRI biomarker.

NCHR Written Comment to AHRQ on Improving the Management of Menopausal Symptoms in Perimenopausal and Early Postmenopausal Women

May 13, 2026, NCHR submitted comments in response to AHRQ’s request for feedback on its research protocol that will inform the NIH Pathways to Prevention Workshop on Improving the Management of Menopausal Symptoms. NCHR urged AHRQ to include all relevant studies rather than exclude foundational evidence through publication date cutoffs. We are especially concerned at the exclusion of long-term Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) findings, and to provide unbiased, easy-to-understand information about the risks and benefits of different menopause treatments.

NCHR Written Comment to FDA on the Plausible Mechanism Framework for Developing Individualized Therapies for Genetic Conditions

April 27, 2026: NCHR raises concerns about the FDA’s proposed plausible mechanism framework for therapies targeting rare and genetic diseases, warning that reliance on such very limited evidence makes it difficult or impossible to make informed choices based on safety and effectiveness, and means even more very high costing unproven drugs, which patients will pay for directly or through health insurance.