News

Originally published in USA Today A person with a terminal illness may hear of a drug that could be promising only to hear it has not yet received government approval for use. Unless that person can find his or her way into a clinical trial for that compound, he or she will most likely not […]

LYONS, Colo. — Since May, a string of states have passed laws that give critically ill patients the right to try medications that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Deemed “Right to Try” laws, they have passed quickly and often unanimously in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana and Arizona, bringing hope to […]

Originally in US News Christine McSherry’s son Jett is a typical college freshman trying to push for as much independence as he can. But Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that tears away muscles, has taken his ability to walk. He relies daily on aides to help him with homework, eating and carrying classroom materials. “He […]

On Election Day, Arizona voters approved a referendum that allows terminally ill patients to receive treatment with drugs and devices that haven’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Arizona became the fifth state to approve a so-called right-to-try law this year. Supporters say the laws give patients faster access to experimental, potentially life-saving […]

A rising death toll, mass panic, scary mortality rate—what could possibly be good about the out-of-control epidemic? It may accelerate the adoption of laws giving patients more power. Ebola’s arrival and seeming spread in America is causing mass panic, tasteless Internet jokes, and incredibly poorly timed magazine covers. Can anything good come out of the […]

In November, Arizona voters will decide whether terminally ill patients should be allowed to take drugs that are in the early stages of testing but haven’t yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Similar “right to try” laws have been enacted this year in Colorado, Louisiana, and Missouri. The laws aren’t a […]

The deadly Ebola outbreak spreading through Africa is so extreme, it is driving health officials to do something that they would instinctively resist in normal circumstances: Subject patients to unproven experimental drugs. The drugs are risky. Some have not even been tested on humans. Even so, a World Health Organization ethics committee just declared such […]