Right to Try laws get it wrong by marginalizing FDA
October 13, 2015
On Sunday, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have expanded access to experimental drugs — bucking a trend that is sweeping the country. These “Right to Try” laws, so far enacted by 24 states, allow people who are battling fatal illnesses to gain access to unapproved medicines. They also directly defy federal regulations.
These efforts, however, appear misguided. The laws threaten to unravel decades of patient protections, since the FDA is precluded from providing its traditional oversight. And the laws could even make it more difficult to obtain experimental drugs because of requirements not found in the existing federal program. And so far, it’s not even clear if anyone has really been helped by the measures.
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