Congressmen Cohen and Duncan Introduce Bill to Help Find Treatment and Cure for Alzheimer's Disease

Statement

Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) today introduced the bipartisan Ensuring Useful Research Expenditures is Key for Alzheimer's (EUREKA) Act (H.R. 5073), which would provide $10 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies to create prizes to accelerate discovery and development for new prevention measures, treatments, and cures for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The EUREKA Act is a bipartisan House companion to a bipartisan Senate bill (S.2067) introduced by Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), John Barrasso (R-WY), Shelley Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME), and Brian Schatz (D-HI). The Senate bill currently has 40 cosponsors.

"Alzheimer's disease is a tragic disease affecting millions of Americans, and it has reached crisis proportions," said Congressman Cohen. "There is no effective treatment, no means of prevention, and no method for slowing the progression of the disease. While funding Alzheimer's research directly by the NIH is important to combating the disease, it is not the only way that Congress can act to stimulate discovery and development of new treatments and cures. The EUREKA Act builds upon efforts to seek innovative solutions from the public, and bring the best ideas and talent together to fight this horrible disease. I would like to thank my colleague John Duncan for introducing this bill with me and thank my colleagues in the Senate for their work on this issue."

"Almost everyone has a family member or friend whose family has been affected by this awful disease​," said Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. "I am pleased to join Congressman Cohen in the introduction of this bill that provides incentives to accelerate the research to help prevent and treat this disease. While we are already dedicating federal dollars toward this effort, I believe we can, and we must, do more to work to develop effective treatments and the prevention of Alzheimer's."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, five million Americans were living with Alzheimer's in 2013. Because of the large numbers of patients and the length of time living with the disease, the Alzheimer's Association has called it "the most expensive disease in America." They estimate that the U.S. will spend approximately $236 billion in 2016 on patients who have Alzheimer's and related dementias.

The EUREKA Act would establish a prize competition to accelerate discovery and development of treatments to alleviate, prevent, and cure Alzheimer's disease. The creation of prizes to be awarded for solving difficult problems is a new strategy for U.S. agencies to tap into the limitless ingenuity and creativity of the American people. Prize competitions are run by more than 80 agencies across federal government.

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