WASHINGTON — Patients with life-threatening conditions could soon have a new way to ask drug makers for medicines the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t yet approved, after the House on Tuesday voted to approve a version of “right-to-try” legislation.
The House passed the legislation 250-169. Now, the measure awaits a signature from President Trump, who repeatedly and passionately supported the measure and is expected to sign the legislation into law. The Senate had already passed this version of the legislation last August.
The bill’s passage is a win for conservative and libertarian groups like the Koch-brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity and the Goldwater Institute. It is also the conclusion of a surprisingly and increasingly political saga that pitted those groups against many House Democrats, some drug makers, patient groups, and medical ethicists. Key House Republicans and former FDA commissioners have all raised concerns with the legislation, as has current FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, though he remains supportive of the bill.
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This legislation is weak and is the perfect example of why we have a never ending debate over healthcare in the US. Some say medicine is a right, others say it’s a privilege. Without coming to an agreement on that basic question, all specific issues such as this one regarding experimental therapies simply devolve to political footballs.
Awesome ! As a caregiver who actually has experience with this broken , cruel system – we are finally getting some respect . My wife had months to live in 2010 but didn’t have time to deal with the cumbersome FDA paperwork of that time . She was one of the lucky few who got access. It saved her life. The naysayers – the Academic Ivory Tower types, the Partisan Politicians, and the ” Professional ” Advocacy groups like ACS – have no personal experience with this broken process. If they did, or ever do , they will ” see ‘ the reality . They hype the ” 99 % success ” rate of the current system – 99 % of what ? – a few thousand requests a year , in a Country of 314 Million ? Pathetic. RTT is a victory for Terminally Ill Patient Rights
I believe when you have no other options we should allow them to try untested options that’s how we break new ground and move in ways the old structure would not allow Ie moonshot thinking that is whet Inovation comes from