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A key House Republican wants to make changes to a Senate-passed measure that aims to expand patient access to experimental treatments, a move that will slow the measure’s path to passage. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon told STAT Thursday that the Senate-passed “right-to-try” bill, from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), would have to be changed before he would bring it up in his panel. (Mershon, 1/19)

The committee also favorably reported, as part of the same en bloc vote, the nominations of Patrick Pizzella to be deputy secretary at the Department of Labor, and Dr. Brett Giroir to be assistant secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services. Murray and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked to be recorded as voting "no" on the Giroir and Pizzella nominations.   Murray had previously delayed Giroir's nomination because of her concern about his position on family planning. She said in a statement after his nomination hearing in August 2017 that she was "unconvinced Dr. Giroir would be willing to stand up to this administration's ideological attacks on women in a key leadership role at HHS."   (Grady, 1/18)