CA Governor: No Experimental Drugs for Terminal Patients

California Gov. Jerry Brown recently vetoed the state’s Right to Try Act, which passed both the state assembly and the senate with bipartisan support.
In his veto message, the governor wrote, “Patients with life-threatening conditions should be able to try experimental drugs, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s compassionate use program allows this to happen.”
If only this were true! Our previous coverage of this issue has shown the governor’s statement to be patently incorrect. As it stands now, the FDA throws numerous roadblocks and hurdles into the paths of terminally patients seeking access to experimental drugs through the FDA’s compassionate use program. The FDA can even revoke permission after it is granted.
This is, by definition, a life-or-death issue, and it is an outrage that state and federal bureaucrats are standing in the way of a person’s right to try to save his or her life, even with the guidance of qualified doctors.