Teenage cancer patient's final fight becomes law as House passes landmark pediatric bill
A teenage girl who spent her final years advocating for young people battling cancer is forever memorialized in history, thanks to a key bill passed by the House of Representatives.Mikaela...
By Fox News · Fox News
A teenage girl who spent her final years advocating for young people battling cancer is forever memorialized in history, thanks to a key bill passed by the House of Representatives. Mikaela Naylon was just 16 when she died five years after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who helped lead the landmark legislation that became her namesake, said Mikaela spent much of that time fighting to give fellow children a chance to survive cancer. He told Fox News Digital that he viewed childhood cancer patients as "the best advocates" for their cause, calling them his "better angels." TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO HARNESS AI IN FIGHT AGAINST CHILDHOOD CANCERS "Mikaela was a great example of that," McCaul said. "She was very sick. She'd just undergone radiation and chemotherapy. She wasn't feeling very well, and I could tell. But she still made the effort to come to Washington, to go to members' offices and advocate for the legislation." The Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act is aimed at expanding children's access to existing cancer therapy trials, as well as incentivizing development of treatments and solutions for pediatric cancer. It reauthorizes funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support pediatric disease research through fiscal year 2027, and extends the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ability to expedite review of drugs aimed at helping certain pediatric illnesses. FORMER NBA STAR TEAMS UP WITH GOP LAWMAKER TO HELP YOUNG CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM STUTTERING DISORDER "It's probably one of the most rewarding things I've done is to not only draw awareness to childhood cancer by forming the [Childhood Cancer Caucus] and then having an annual summit, but to be able to pass legislation that results in saving children's lives. I don't think there's anything more important than that," McCaul said. His bill passed the House unanimously on Monday, with both Republicans and Democrats speaking out…