Trump signs 'Right to Try,' says it will save 'tremendous number of lives'

[Right_in_Virginia]

Trump signs 'Right to Try,' says it will save 'tremendous number of lives'
Fox News, May 30, 2018, Brooke Singman

President Trump on Wednesday signed into law a bill that would allow those with potentially terminal diseases to try experimental treatments and bypass the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The so-called Right to Try Act of 2017, sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., unanimously passed the Senate last August, and cleared the House last week on a party-line vote of 250-169 -- in a win for both Johnson and the Trump administration.

"Today I am proud to keep another promise to the American people as I sign the Right to Try legislation into law," Trump said Wednesday. "We're going to be saving tremendous numbers of lives."

The president said the issue was "very personal" for him.

"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. “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.”


More: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/30/trump-signs-right-to-try-says-it-will-save-tremendous-number-lives.html

[Emjay]

This is a good thing.  Some people want to try and they should be able to.

[driftdiver]

Dont think it will help that much but it will give people some hope.   that will help

[Right_in_Virginia]

Dont think it will help that much but it will give people some hope.   that will help

The patient may be given a little more time and this is good. There could also be a remission or longer-term disease management, and this is great.

But opening up these drugs increases the study group and this will assist with and move research at a rapid, rather than a snail's pace.  This points to a brighter future.

[jmyrlefuller]

Just keep in mind, though, that even if they're in an experimental study, half of the people in the studies end up getting a placebo because they need a control to prove efficacy.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Just keep in mind, though, that even if they're in an experimental study, half of the people in the studies end up getting a placebo because they need a control to prove efficacy.

@jmyrlefuller   Under this bill each patient would receive the drug. .... The results will feed into the drug/placebo studies.

Much to the benefit of existing and future patients.

[Frank Cannon]

Just keep in mind, though, that even if they're in an experimental study, half of the people in the studies end up getting a placebo because they need a control to prove efficacy.

This ain't no lab test dude. This is actual treatment. This is an awesome program that should have been done a long time ago.

BTW I love watching the Rats complain against this move because without the FDA's blessing, these terminal patients might die from getting drugs that the Govt' didn't approve of. What a bunch of jackasses.

[RoosGirl]

This ain't no lab test dude. This is actual treatment. This is an awesome program that should have been done a long time ago.

BTW I love watching the Rats complain against this move because without the FDA's blessing, these terminal patients might die from getting drugs that the Govt' didn't approve of. What a bunch of jackasses.

Yeah, that's about the dumbest arguments ever.

[edpc]

This ain't no lab test dude. This is actual treatment. This is an awesome program that should have been done a long time ago.

BTW I love watching the Rats complain against this move because without the FDA's blessing, these terminal patients might die from getting drugs that the Govt' didn't approve of. What a bunch of jackasses.

A test lab is exactly what this is. They’re human clinical trial subjects, at this point.

[RoosGirl]

A test lab is exactly what this is. They’re human clinical trial subjects, at this point.

Is that why drug prices will be dropping?  The pharmas will no longer have to pay for the clinical trials?

[edpc]

Is that why drug prices will be dropping?  The pharmas will no longer have to pay for the clinical trials?

Maybe, but legal costs are liable to rise. One of the aspects of clinical trials is informed consent, where they explain everything to you. However, if you’re dying, how much can you understand?  Expect lawsuits based on that.

[Chosen Daughter]

There are very natural cures that people have been imprisoned for helping others with.  I use all natural for my cancer.  Have taken much flack from the medical community who immediately wanted to put a port into me and force chemo down it.  To me drugs like chemo and radiation are the last nail in your coffin.  I am doing well.  Praise God!

[ABX]

Step in the right direction. Check this one in the good move box.

[goodwithagun]

There are very natural cures that people have been imprisoned for helping others with.  I use all natural for my cancer.  Have taken much flack from the medical community who immediately wanted to put a port into me and force chemo down it.  To me drugs like chemo and radiation are the last nail in your coffin.  I am doing well.  Praise God!

I refused chemo and radiation, but I did elect surgery to remove my tumor. I used my version of Gerson for the 7 months it took oncologists to decide my cancer diagnosis.

[libertybele]

A test lab is exactly what this is. They’re human clinical trial subjects, at this point.

Regardless, it still opens the door for a person to try an experimental drug. This is a great thing.

[libertybele]

There are very natural cures that people have been imprisoned for helping others with.  I use all natural for my cancer.  Have taken much flack from the medical community who immediately wanted to put a port into me and force chemo down it.  To me drugs like chemo and radiation are the last nail in your coffin.  I am doing well.  Praise God!

Yes, praise God!  I am glad to hear you are doing well.  Prayers for you Chosen.

[edpc]

Regardless, it still opens the door for a person to try an experimental drug. This is a great thing.

People say it's great, until it isn't.  There's always a trade off with medications, especially experimental ones that address terminal illness.  Some of the same people agog over this today will call for the heads of pharma execs in the future for exploitation.  Count on it.

[libertybele]

Maybe, but legal costs are liable to rise. One of the aspects of clinical trials is informed consent, where they explain everything to you. However, if you’re dying, how much can you understand?  Expect lawsuits based on that.

??? Why would legal costs rise??  I disagree.  Just because a person is dying doesn't necessarily mean that they can't make a decision.   So ... when a person is told that they only have 3 or 6 months to live, it certainly doesn't mean that they can't think for themselves.

Most importantly; what about the drugs that do help or prolong life?  I don't see lawsuits arising.

[libertybele]

People say it's great, until it isn't.  There's always a trade off with medications, especially experimental ones that address terminal illness.  Some of the same people agog over this today will call for the heads of pharma execs in the future for exploitation.  Count on it.

Trade off??  People will be able to choose a drug that wouldn't ordinarily be available to them when no other drug offered to them has worked. 

Good grief, have you listened to some of the commercials for some of the approved drugs?  ..."may cause death" ... and these are drugs for people who are NOT dying!

[Frank Cannon]

People say it's great, until it isn't.  There's always a trade off with medications, especially experimental ones that address terminal illness.  Some of the same people agog over this today will call for the heads of pharma execs in the future for exploitation.  Count on it.

You make no sense as usual. These people are going to die. They have no options left via what the FDA will bestow on them. Now they can try new stuff and maybe help with a breakthrough that would normally not happen. There is only upside here........except for people like you who worship the FDA and hate Trump.

[edpc]

??? Why would legal costs rise??  I disagree.  Just because a person is dying doesn't necessarily mean that they can't make a decision.   So ... when a person is told that they only have 3 or 6 months to live, it certainly doesn't mean that they can't think for themselves.

Most importantly; what about the drugs that do help or prolong life?  I don't see lawsuits arising.

Because family members will find a way.  Yeah, grandma was around for another 6 months, but suffered tardive dyskinesia from the treatment.  They cured her CHF, but now she's in renal failure, etc...

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

??? Why would legal costs rise??  I disagree.  Just because a person is dying doesn't necessarily mean that they can't make a decision.   So ... when a person is told that they only have 3 or 6 months to live, it certainly doesn't mean that they can't think for themselves.

Most importantly; what about the drugs that do help or prolong life?  I don't see lawsuits arising.

Treatment doesn't work, family in grief/greed decides to sue.  Jury sees a poor family who lost a member and wants to do something and a Big Pharma company with deep pockets, so they steal for the plaintiff.

[libertybele]

Because family members will find a way.  Yeah, grandma was around for another 6 months, but suffered tardive dyskinesia from the treatment.  They cured her CHF, but now she's in renal failure, etc...

I would think that those taking an 'unapproved' drug would have to sign some kind of waiver holding the pharmaceutical company, doctors administering the drugs and others involved, harmless. The patient should have the right to try to extend their lives if they should choose to do so.  There is risk with taking any drug.  Rather than looking at the negative, I see this as a positive.  People now have a chance at prolonging their lives.

[libertybele]

Treatment doesn't work, family in grief/greed decides to sue.  Jury sees a poor family who lost a member and wants to do something and a Big Pharma company with deep pockets, so they steal for the plaintiff.

We are talking end of life, terminal illness.  Not treating someone with an experimental drug on a whim. You are forgetting that the family is also a witness to watching their loved one battle a terminal illness and knowing that no drug worked and that the drug in question was a last resort.  The lawyers would have to prove that the drug killed the family member and not the illness. In reality, because no other drug worked, the illness progressed and the family member consented to using an experimental drug.  If that experimental drugs was also unable to stop the progression of the illness, then the illness  caused the death of the patient.  No lawsuit.

[edpc]

I would think that those taking an 'unapproved' drug would have to sign some kind of waiver holding the pharmaceutical company, doctors administering the drugs and others involved, harmless.

You can bet the paperwork is thick and comprehensive.  When has that ever stopped litigation?