WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Senator David Vitter suggests an FDA advisory panel's negative recommendation on a contested breast cancer drug, amounts to rationing health care. The allegations revive allegations of government death panels.

In a statement, Vitter said the recommendation on the drug Avastin was "sickening," likening it to a government panel withholding care for a patient "because their life is not deemed valuable enough."

Vitter's position puts him at odds with the FDA's independent panel of cancer experts. The panel voted 12-1 last week to recommend dropping the agency's endorsement of Avastin's use against breast cancer, saying recent studies failed to show benefits and found harmful side effects.