Editorial

As a kidney transplant surgeon and board member of the National Kidney Foundation of Louisiana, I work to treat chronic kidney patients every day to help them have a better quality of life. Their care and lives are in my hands and I take this responsibility very seriously. This is why the National Kidney Foundation of Louisiana and kidney transplant professionals and patients support HB 263 by Representative Huval to update the state's step therapy law and ensure that Louisiana patients have access to the right medicine at the right time.

Over the past month as Louisiana has faced tremendous trial and loss of life – state leaders have cast aside partisan politics and come together to protect our citizens from COVID-19. Our efforts at the local and state levels have been tremendously aided by a President and Federal Government committed to defeating our invisible enemy.

Some recent editorials and news stories have falsely characterized regulatory review efforts currently underway at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, apparently without having actually read the proposed revisions. One editorial in the Houston Chronicle expressed worries that many, including the U.S. Government and our agency, commonly referred to as BSEE, might have forgotten the lessons of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy and other offshore incidents. For the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement nothing could be further from the truth.