Faso Votes for ‘Right to Try’ Legislation
Bill to be Signed into Law Soon
Washington D.C. – Congressman John Faso (R-Kinderhook) voted in favor of S. 204 –The Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act, when it came up for a vote in the House yesterday evening. The House passed the bill by a vote of 250—169. It is now on the way to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
The bill would give patients with terminal illnesses the choice to access experimental treatments that have been approved through Phase I – safety – of the Federal Drug Administration approval process.
“This bipartisan bill gives patients and families facing unimaginable choices and situations a chance to fight, and gives them access to new opportunities that may prove to be potentially lifesaving,” said Faso. “I understand the emotionally trying situations that patients and their families are under and believe that giving them the chance to work with their doctor to access promising treatments after exhausting all other options is the right decision.”
Right to Try does not eliminate the FDA approval process. The current process for applying to the FDA for experimental drugs is overly burdensome and results in only 1,200 people a year being approved, even though the approval rate for those making it through the application process is 99%. The patient’s doctor must prove that all other options have been exhausted prior to accessing the experimental treatments. Nearly forty states have already signed their own ‘Right to Try’ legislation into law.
