Patient Fly-In Highlights Value of Focused Ultrasound Technologies

On July 11, AdvaMed Imaging’s Focused Ultrasound Section and the Focused Ultrasound Foundation (FUS) hosted their fifth annual congressional fly-in, bringing together 6 patients, 2 physicians, and industry representatives. The advocates held 21 meetings on Capitol Hill, where they discussed the focused ultrasound (FUS), a noninvasive procedure that has received FDA clearance for treating essential tremor, prostate cancer, uterine fibroids, Parkinson’s tremor, and dyskinesia, among other diseases.

Recently featured on 60 Minutes, FUS is a groundbreaking therapy that uses focused beams of ultrasound energy deep into the body to treat specific areas without damaging surrounding tissue. In meetings with policymakers and legislative representatives, patients shared their personal experiences of receiving focused ultrasound treatment and advocated for greater Medicare beneficiary access to FUS.

During the fly-in, patients, physicians, and industry representatives urged lawmakers to advance the Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act (HR 1691). If passed, this bill would reduce regulatory delays in focused ultrasound procedures among Medicare beneficiaries.  The fly-in participants also discussed the need for congressional collaboration with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the focused ultrasound stakeholder community, in addition to the need to form a cross-institute focused ultrasound research group within the National Institutes of Health.

Our patient advocates are critical to our advocacy, and we thank those who attended this year’s fly-in: Beverly McGowan, Thomas Newell, Bobby Krause, Robert Palmer, Michael Werner, and Tom Donegan.