Texas Doctor Denounces Rep. Frank Pallone’s Floor Statement on Right to Try
During floor debate on a federal Right to Try bill on March 21, Congressman Frank Pallone read from a letter written by a Canadian activist named Andrew McFayden that included categorically false information about Texas doctor Ebrahim Delpassand.
Congressman Pallone said that during a clinical trial being conducted by Dr. Delpassand that he failed to report adverse events to the FDA. This is absolutely false. All data, including any side effects or adverse events, were reported to the FDA.
Congressman Pallone also said that 40 patients died as a result of Dr. Delpassand’s negligence. This is also categorically false. Dr. Delpassand treated 143 patients in this trial, all of whom had stage 4 neuroendocrine cancer patients, and some did die. But, they died from the advanced stage of their disease, not the treatment.
Dr. Delpassand’s clinic was among the centers participating in a multi-center clinical trial (NETTER-1) that led to FDA approval of Lu-177 DOTATATE (LutaThera®) in January of 2018. After the trial was over, Dr. Delpassand continued to treat his patients under the Right to try Law in Texas, while they were waiting for final FDA approval. For the nearly two years between the time the trial completed required enrollment in 2015 and an expanded access program was established in 2017, Dr. Delpassand’s patients had no other way to access their treatment besides Right to Try. Even when expanded access was finally offered to some patients, many patients did not meet the strict eligibility criteria for the expanded access program and could not access the treatment except under Right to Try.
Dr. Delpassand issued the following statement:
It is extremely irresponsible for a member of Congress to use unverified rumors on the floor of the House in an official debate on a serious piece of legislation. Rep. Pallone never called me to ask if these accusations were true. Instead, he repeated lies in an attempt to damage my career and practice and bolster his untrue claims that Right to Try laws are not helping patients.
Dr. Delpassand’s clinical trial results have been published in peer reviewed medical journals, including Pancreas Journal: The Journal of Neuroendocrine Tumors and Pancreatic Diseases and Science and Clinical Nuclear Medicine.
Dr. Delpassand is currently conducting several new FDA-approved clinical trials.
About Ebrahim Delpassand
Ebrahim S Delpassand, M.D.
- FOUNDER/CHAIRMAN/MEDICAL DIRECTOR: EXCEL DIAGNOSTICS & NUCLEAR ONCOLOGY CENTER, HOUSTON, TX
- AMERICAN BOARD OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE (ABNM)
- CLINICAL PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH
- CERTIFIED CLINICAL DENSITOMETRIST (CCD)
- FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE (FACNM)
Dr. Ebrahim Delpassand is the Chairman and Medical Director of Excel Diagnostics and Nuclear Oncology Center. He holds an academic position as Clinical Professor in Radiation Oncology, at the University of Texas, Medical Branch. He completed his residency training in Nuclear Medicine, and Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1991. He is Board certified in Nuclear Medicine and Fellow of the American College of Nuclear Medicine.
Dr. Delpassand is the former deputy chairman, associate professor, and chief of clinical nuclear medicine at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. His prestigious credentials and extensive experience include the disciplines of therapeutic nuclear medicine, Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT), nuclear cardiology, monoclonal antibody imaging, and positron emission tomography (PET). Dr. Delpassand is the principle Investigator of multiple Investigational New Drug (IND) applications in the areas of diagnostic and Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine authorized by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).