Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet renamed the Give Kids a Chance Act to the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act in honor of Mikaela, a Colorado teenager who tirelessly advocated for children’s access to cancer treatment throughout her brave battle with cancer.
Mikaela Naylon was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2020, when she was just ten years old. Following her diagnosis, she traveled across the country pursuing treatment and advocating for other children with cancer. Mikaela tragically lost her battle with cancer on October 29. As a final act of advocacy in the hopes that other kids wouldn’t have to go through what she did, Mikaela donated her body to science to help find a cure.
“Even in the midst of her own battle with cancer, Mikaela fought tirelessly to increase other children’s access to life-saving care,” said Bennet. “Children with cancer deserve access to the most advanced medicines possible, and we must ensure our medical professionals have every tool at their disposal to treat them. I am glad to rename this bill in honor of Mikaela, and I will keep fighting for young cancer patients to access life-saving trials and therapies to battle this disease.”
Earlier this year, Senator Michael Bennet, alongside U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), introduced the Give Kids a Chance Act to improve outcomes for children with cancer by ensuring they can participate in clinical trials and have access to essential treatments. This bill will allow children to participate in combination trials that include targeted medicines for pediatric cancer. It also extends the Pediatric Priority Review Voucher Program, which encourages companies to develop treatments and therapies for pediatric diseases.
Bennet previously introduced the Give Kids a Chance Act in 2022.
The text of the bill is available HERE.
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