File this under “right to oppose.”
In a significant development, the American Society of Clinical Oncology has become the first major medical society to come out against the burgeoning “right to try” movement, which is pursuing federal and state legislation to hasten access to experimental drugs.
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The reason that oncologists — and by extension, most doctors — will oppose the right of patients to try a new, experimental drug or procedure is a very simple one, though many will scoff, and ridicule those who have the fortitude to state it. The reason is: most doctors are far more concerned with their selves, their position in the community, their bank accounts and their reputations than they will ever be about their patients. Doctors will obfuscate and hide the truth; they will lie in the medical records and even perjure themselves in court in order to protect and ameliorate their liability. It is a sad, but honest truth.
The subtext here is that compassionate use cancer drugs will not be covered by insurance and the oncologists will lose the chance to fatten their wallets from the reimbursement they would normally get from approved drugs.