Terminally ill patients normally have to go through a long application process to use these potentially lifesaving products or treatments, according to the report. However, the law allows patients to essentially override FDA rules.
In 2014, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan and Missouri passed “right to try” laws, and other states have already joined them this year.
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) signed a “right to try” law in his state March 9, and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed one March 10. And as of earlier this week, lawmakers in South Dakota and Virginia had sent legislation that allows patients to try investigational treatments that have passed Phase 1 to their governors for signature, according to a news release. Twenty-five additional states are considering “right to try” laws this year, and eight of those states have already passed the legislation through at least one chamber.
“We all know the pain of losing someone we love to a terminal illness…,” said Darcy Olsen, president of the Goldwater Institute, the group leading the national, bipartisan push for “right to try” laws. “Of course people should have the right to try promising medicines when they are fighting for their lives.”
The “right to try” law is limited to patients with a terminal disease that have exhausted all conventional treatment options and cannot enroll in a clinical trial, according to a news release. All medications available under the law must have successfully completed basic safety testing and be part of the FDA’s ongoing approval process.
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