Gazette-Mail editorial: Lung cancer bill worthy of bipartisan effort

Even in today’s ridiculous political climate, there’s still some good work being done across the aisle.

Earlier this week, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and a few of their Senate colleagues, Republican and Democrat, introduced a bill to promote research on lung cancer in women in the United States.

Manchin and Capito issued news releases on the legislation, explaining that the bill would help intensify research in this area and focus especially on nonsmokers. Other sponsors of the bill, dubbed the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventative Services Act, include Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Tina Smith, D-Minn.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and Mark Kelley, D-Ariz.

A House version of the bill also has been introduced, by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Brendan Boyle, D-Pa.

Manchin said lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Unsurprisingly, the problem is particularly bad in West Virginia, a state with one of the oldest and least-healthy populations in the country.

According to the bill, 164 women die of lung cancer every day in the United States, and estimates from the American Cancer Society suggest the disease will have claimed the lives of 59,910 women by the end of the year.

Research also shows that lung cancer rates are higher in women who have never smoked than in men who have. Lung cancer rates are slowly dropping, but, again, that drop is about two times more in men than in women. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency suggests radon exposure is partially to blame for these lung cancer deaths.

The bill would direct further study of the cause of lung cancer cases in women and outline possibilities for cost-effective, early screening for the disease.

More information on what causes lung cancer in women and possibilities of early detection and treatment are things Congress should easily be able to get behind. It’s important work that could save lives. It’s good to see Manchin and Capito engaged in meaningful legislation outside of all the culture war follies that occupy so much of elected officials’ time these days.