us-regions Gov. Doug Ducey has signed a follow-up to a signature piece of Trump-era medical legislation.
Ducey signed the Right to Try for Individualized Treatments bill into law Monday, expanding on health care reforms originally touted by former President Trump. The Republican president signed the original Right to Try Act into law in 2018. The legislation aims to allow experimental but potentially life-saving treatments for terminally ill patients without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.
ARIZONA FAMILY PUSHES ‘RIGHT TO TRY 2.0’ AFTER BEING FORCED TO TRAVEL TO ITALY FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT
Right to Try for Individualized Treatments builds off the original Right to Try that was introduced and sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson and, according to the FDA, is a “way for patients who have been diagnosed with life-threatening diseases or conditions who have tried all approved treatment options and who are unable to participate in a clinical trial to access certain unapproved treatments.”
FDA approval on experimental drugs takes years, sometimes decades. The Right to Try allows terminally ill patients with no other recourse to solicit experimental and unapproved treatments they would likely not live long enough to try.
The Arizona State Capitol.
(Douglas Sacha via Getty Images)
With bipartisan support, the Individualized Treatments reform passed the Arizona Senate and the House Health and Human Services Committee. It then quickly made its way to the House floor for a vote and was finally signed into law April 25.
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Trump touted the original Right to Try as a signature bill of his administration.
In this April 15, 2021, photo, Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey speaks during a bill signing in Phoenix.
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
“As I proudly sign this bill, thousands of terminally ill Americans will have the help, the hope and the fighting chance – and I think it’s going to be better than chance – that they will be cured, that they will be helped, that they will be able to be with their families for a long time, or maybe just for a longer time,” Trump said in 2018. “But we’re able to give them the absolute best we have at this current moment, at this current second. We’re going to help a lot of people. It’s an honor to be signing this.”
Democrats have long been critical of the legislation, saying it could “peddle false hope” and place patients at risk.
Over 100 groups representing patients and research groups called the final legislation Tuesday “unsafe.”
