Terminally Ill Patients Should Have Access To Experimental Drugs

In many states, terminally ill patients are denied the option to enter clinical trials of experimental pharmaceuticals that have passed phase 1 testing. Only 21 states have passed laws allowing eligible patients to participate in these trials of possibly life-saving drugs. In states which have passed legislation on the subject, the eligible patients have usually tried every available option. In at least 10 states, a bill that would allow for the entry of those eligible hasn’t been proposed. This legislature is being called the “Right to Try” act. Terminally ill patients should be allowed access to these experimental drugs. These drugs may improve both the mental and physical conditions of the patients. These trials may give patients a new hope for a better life and give them a sense of purpose. The subjects of these trials may benefit future medical research through their participation. The subjects’ participation in this research may even save valuable resources, like time and money.
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The participants could also benefit future people with the same illnesses. The Abigail Alliance, created in 2001, has pushed for earlier access to over 30 experimental drugs which have since all passed the FDA’s clinical trials. The alliance was formed after Abigail Burrough had requested access into a trial on an experimental cancer drug and had only been accepted after she had become too ill to travel, she then died a month later. The extended wait times on the acceptance into trials and availability of new drugs could be major problems. According to Dr. Arthur Caplan from the University of Pennsylvania, “small biotech companies have extremely limited amounts of an experimental drug. They may be hoping that a large pharmaceutical company will step into the equation, but in the meantime, they are not about to give that drug away to individual