[Press Release] Kildee Introduces New Bipartisan Legislation To Improve Medical Treatment For PFAS-Exposed Patients

December 7, 2023

Read the full article by Dan Kildee

"Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-08), co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, and Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) today introduced bipartisan legislation, supported by Republicans and Democrats, to ensure doctors have up-to-date information on how best to treat patients exposed to toxic PFAS.

Congressman Kildee’s bill, the Better Care for PFAS Patients Act, would require the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to work with the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to update its per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) clinical guidance every five years, at a minimum. In 2019, ATSDR published PFAS clinical guidance in response to demand among doctors for up-to-date information on how best to treat those exposed. However, there is no requirement that ATSDR regularly updates that guidance.

Exposure to PFAS has already been tied to high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and pregnancy-induced hypertension, and the need for new guidance will only grow as more conditions are linked to these forever chemicals."