Thanks to ANH member activism over many years, Congress has finally approved Right to Try legislation. Now we need to expand it. Action Alert!
Recently, the House of Representatives approved legislation that expands access to experimental drugs for terminally ill patients who have exhausted all other treatment options. It also frees drug companies from liability where trial medications are provided. Patients and their families who desire access to experimental drugs are faced with incredibly difficult life- and- death decisions. Such decisions should be between a patient and his or her doctor, not with the FDA standing in the way. As the law stands now, patients need to go through an FDA bureaucracy to get access to experimental drugs. This is an unnecessary government intrusion into a patient’s life.
This is a long-overdue win. ANH has supported this legislation for years, and in fact worked with former Representative Ron Paul of Texas on a very early, more expansive version of the bill that included the right to choose alternative natural treatments as well. We will continue to work to make a patient’s “right to try” broader, to include non-drug treatments.
Next the bill will be sent to President Trump’s desk for his approval.
The fight, of course, is not over. While this bill is an important stepping stone, patients are still blocked from choosing many alternative treatments, either through medical monopolies or government regulation. The core of ANH’s mission is to allow patients the freedom to choose the treatments that work best for them. There is much more work to be done, but it is heartening to see that common-sense legislation can be enacted.
Action Alert! Write to Congress and urge your representatives to expand the Right to Try law to non-drug treatments where they are restricted by law. Please send your message immediately.
