On June 11, the Joint Committee on Public Health heard testimony on three bills that I filed with fierce colleagues in the House:
- An Act to reduce incidence and death from pancreatic cancer (S.1484/H.2432)
- An Act relative to menstrual product ingredient disclosure (S.1483/H.2375)
- An Act protecting patients and health care workers from exposure to surgical smoke (S.1482/H.2442)
Read on for the testimony I delivered to the Committee, which you can also watch here.
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Chair Driscoll, Chair Decker, and members of the Joint Committee on Public Health:
Thank you very much for hearing three of the bills I filed at this morning’s hearing.
First, I’d like to express my strong support for S.1484 and H.2432, An Act to reduce incidence and death from pancreatic cancer, which I filed in partnership with Representatives Gentile and Kane.
This bill has been reported favorably from the Joint Committee on Public Health for the past two sessions and has strong statewide and legislative support. This session the Women’s Caucus has made the bill a priority piece of legislation for the caucus, and the bills are currently co-sponsored by 86 Representatives and Senators (and counting).
The American Cancer Network estimates that there will be 1,170 deaths in Massachusetts from pancreatic cancer this year alone, making it the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Commonwealth.
The bill sets up a comprehensive pancreatic cancer initiative within the Department of Public Health to improve the Commonwealth’s prevention, screening, and education services and programming, and ultimately improve outcomes and quality of life for Massachusetts residents at risk of or living with pancreatic cancer.
The bill implements recommendations of the Special Legislative Commission to Study Pancreatic Cancer, which was published in 2019, and I believe it’s high time we enact this legislation and work to address this pressing and growing disease.
The second bill I’d like to testify in support of is S.1483 and H.2375, An Act relative to menstrual product ingredient disclosure, which I filed in partnership with Representative Blais.
This bill was also reported favorably from the Joint Committee last session, has been endorsed by the Women’s Caucus this session, and the bills are currently co-sponsored by 12 Senators and 22 Representatives.
There is growing concern about chemical exposure and resulting reproductive health issues from certain components and additives in menstrual products, with recent studies uncovering PFAS chemicals and heavy metals, including arsenic and lead, in various products.
Current federal Food and Drug Administration guidelines do not require most manufacturers of menstrual products to disclose their ingredients, limiting the ability of consumers to make informed choices and of researchers to understand the effects of sustained exposure.
This bill requires ingredient disclosure on any menstrual product sold within the Commonwealth, following the lead of New York and California which have already passed laws requiring menstrual project ingredient disclosure.
Access to products is not equitable without safety, so I hope we can pass this bill this session to protect the health and agency of our constituents.
The third bill I’d like to testify in support of is S.1482 and H.2442, An Act protecting patients and health care workers from exposure to surgical smoke, which I filed in partnership with Representative Hawkins.
This bill has strong support from the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
This bill requires all hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgical facilities to use smoke evacuation systems to protect operating room personnel from exposure to “surgical smoke,” the vapor produced by the destruction of tissue by lasers or electrosurgical devices during surgery.
I hope the committee will report this bill favorably so that we can help protect our health workers.
Thank you for your consideration of these three bills and for hearing my testimony today. I hope that all three of these bills receive a favorable report from the committee.
