In advance of another vote on the Right to Try Act scheduled to occur later today, NORD joined over 100 patient and provider organizations in sending a renewed letter to the House of Representatives stating our opposition.
Despite having failed to pass the bill last week, the House is quickly moving to try again.
While the latest version contains considerable improvements to patient safety compared to the Senate version, it will still create an unnecessary and less-safe alternative pathway that would only generate confusion and false hope.
We support patients with serious and life-threatening diseases gaining access to potentially life-saving treatments, but the Right to Try Act simply will not accomplish this goal. Rather, it will only diminish the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to protect patients.
Consequently, we remain in opposition to this legislation. We are extremely grateful to all those organizations that joined us and lent their voice!
We will continue to make our voices heard as Congress considers the Right to Try Act. Please stay tuned for further updates.
To view or share the letter, please click here.
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Why is Right to Try Bad for Patients?
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Access to investigational therapies is already permitted through the FDA expanded access program. FDA currently approves 99.7% of all expanded access requests submitted by physicians and companies for patients with immediately life-threatening illnesses who cannot participate in clinical trials. Removing FDA from the process of obtaining investigational drugs, as Right to Try proposes, increases the risk of patient harm and creates confusion.
For more information, check out our one-pager on the legislation here!
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