Critically ill patients see hope in "Right to Try" drugs
But critics call laws that allow use of drugs not approved by FDA as 'a cruel sham'
Lyons, Colarado
SINCE May last year, several states in America have passed laws that give critically ill patients the right to try medications that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Deemed "Right to Try" laws, they have passed quickly and often unanimously in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana and Arizona, bringing hope to patients such as Larry Kutt, who lives in this small town at the edge of the Rocky Mountains.
Mr Kutt, 65, has an advanced blood cancer and says his state's law could help him gain access to a therapy that several pharmaceutical companies are testing. "It's my life, and I want the chance to save it." The laws do not seem to have helped anyone obtain experimental medicine, as the drug companies are not interested in supplying unapproved medications outside the supervision of the FDA. But that seems almost beside the point to the Goldwater Institute, the libertarian group behind legislative efforts to pass Right to Try laws.
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