“RIGHT TO TRY” LEGISLATION CAN SAVE LIVES

News Release from Office of Rep Gene Ward, January 31, 2015

HONOLULU – Representative Gene Ward (R-Hawaii Kai – Kalama Valley) introduced legislation to make it legal for terminally ill patients to access investigational drugs.

“The bottom line of this bill is to start saving lives.  It speaks to the hopelessness that many terminally ill patients feel about the unavailability of drugs to save their lives.  Though it may be high-risk in some cases and the FDA has expanded access to drugs through its “compassionate use” plan, there are still thousands of terminally ill patients who are not given the option of taking possible life-saving experimental drugs.” Ward said.

The origins of “Right to Try” legislation started with melanoma cancer patient, Nick Auden who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and began to seek out an investigational drug to help cure his cancer.  Auden's case spurred on a petition drive that gathered over 500,000 signatures, but unfortunately, Auden was not able to gain access to the drug and passed away in November 2013.

Immediate relevance and applicability of this program was most recently demonstrated in the United States by 2 medical workers who showed significant improvement in the 2014 Ebola outbreak after being given the experimental drug "ZMapp."

"In a society that is fraught with terminal illness, it is the obligation of a compassionate society to give its citizens the choice to take investigational medicine and not to deprive them the opportunity for hope." Ward concluded. 

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'Right to Try' Legislation Tracker

by Alexander Gaffney, RAC, Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society

Since early 2014, more than 20 states have introduced so-called "Right to Try" bills in the hopes of allowing terminally ill patients to access experimental—and potentially life-saving—treatments more easily. These bills are modeled off a federal policy known as "Compassionate Use," but contain several key changes meant to make it faster and easier for patients to obtain experimental therapies.

This Right to Try Legislation Tracker is meant to be a resource for regulatory professionals and patients to keep track of legislation as it moves through various state legislative bodies.

Last updated 26 January 2015: New legislation in Hawaii, California, Tennessee, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Link: 50-State Legislation Tracker

Hawaii:  HB92 Text, Status

HB92 RELATING TO ACCESS TO TREATMENT FOR TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS.

Provides access for terminally ill patients to receive investigational drugs, biological products, and devices that have not received final FDA approval.