Childhood Cancer Hearing Loss

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Mr. BUDD. Madam Speaker, over 15,000 American children are diagnosed with cancer every year. Having the most innocent among us receive such a gut-wrenching diagnosis is devastating.

Thankfully, incredible progress has been made in treating cancer among children. As more kids become survivors, we need to make a concerted effort to improve their lives and to strive to develop treatments that do not carry permanent side effects.

For example, I have constituents whose children have experienced permanent hearing loss, which can occur when young patients undergo chemotherapy. That is why I recently sent a letter to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality asking them to identify any research efforts to reverse this loss of hearing.

We owe it to our young survivors to help them thrive and maintain a high quality of life. I encourage Federal researchers to keep producing the medical miracles that will help our kids prevail in the fight against cancer.

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