WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03) joined the Emily Stillman Foundation to lead a group of parents, students, and other individuals across the Canadian border to obtain vaccinations for Meningitis B. Despite its approval in 34 other countries, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the vaccine.

“While the FDA continues to drag their feet on approval of the Meningitis B vaccine, Americans are needlessly being put at risk of contracting this deadly bacteria,” said Paulsen. “With the new school year approaching, students should be able to protect themselves without having to travel to a another country to obtain a simple vaccination."

College students are often at risk of contracting Meningitis B as shown by recent outbreaks at Princeton and the University of California, Santa Barbara, and many are seeking to be vaccinated before school starts.The Emily Stillman Foundation was started by Alicia Stillman, whose daughter Emily tragically passed away after becoming infected with Meningitis B. Alicia Stillman has organized numerous bus trips to Canada so that people can become vaccinated. Since May, the foundation has helped over 200 people receive the Meningitis B vaccine.

The trip began Sunday in Farmington Hills, Michigan and arrived in Windsor, Ontario later that afternoon. The group received their shots and then returned home with the second dosage of the two-part vaccination process.

Last month, Paulsen wrote an op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the FDA’s slow approval process and delays affecting the Meningitis B vaccine.

Paulsen, a champion of small business and advocate of free enterprise, entrepreneurship, and innovation, serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the bicameral Joint Economic Committee, and is co-chair of the Congressional Medical Technology Caucus.

For more information on Rep. Paulsen’s work in Congress visit paulsen.house.gov. 

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