Trump Signs "Right to Try" Bill into Law

[InTheLight]

WASHINGTON — President Trump signed legislation Wednesday to give terminally ill patients the ability to access experimental drugs that have not won approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The "right to try" measure will let patients who have exhausted other options access drugs in early stages of FDA review. Trump has frequently noted his support for the idea, most recently during his State of the Union address in January.

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Hasn't been any discussion here about this. I think it is a good idea.
Thoughts?

Also another promise kept by Trump.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Benjamin]

For 2 years I did physical therapy with breast cancer patients. Many of them worked very hard to get back to where they were, or even better – long story but some became very interested in body building and despite losing their breast, chemo and radiation affects between reconstructive surgery and earning a shapely new body looked better than they did before – we used to talk about the dramatic healthy lifestyle changes turning out to being a blessing and worth the tradeoff. Anyway…

When some of these women were told there was nothing else they could do they did not give up hope and they kept looking. Often times they were on waiting list for experimental procedures but more than not they were not allowed to try. They told of procedures that had shown good results but were being slow walked and were very limited and restricted to how many and according to “risks” that in their position really made no difference.

Some of these women were tough and I was often amazed at how well they handled what had they had to go through! They were willing to go through a lot more for even a chance.

I have no doubt that at least some of the experimental procedures will work to prolong or even sometimes cure and will lead to even better experiments at a quicker pace. There have been some remarkable results with immunotherapy yet it was highly restricted with regulations. There will also probably be some nightmare results as well but if people are willing to take those risks they don’t need any bureaucrats denying their right to try when they really feel they have nothing more to lose.

 

[Adonia]

It seems to be a good idea. If nothing else has worked and there is an experimental drug, go for it. These people have nothing to lose, they are going to die anyway.

 

[HankD]

It includes allowing generic versions of drugs to be made immediately available to American citizens as soon as they are developed. Normally newly developed drugs have a huge "tariff' by the developer - added to pay for the developmental research but only in America.

e.g. "Lyrica" for neuropathy pain. $500-700/month.
the generic "pregabalin" $100/month (Not for sale in the states).

I had to go through a bit of a hassle to get the generic version through a Canadian pharmacy (after a form from my doctor giving permission).

Even at that it still has to go through customs - It is not an opiod drug but they (my government) still have to pry into my medical life to make sure I don't harm myself.

Strange from a nation which now allows legal suicide (in many states) via a drug "cocktail".

IOW do it our way or the highway. With an exorbitant fee of course.

 

[InTheLight]

It includes allowing generic versions of drugs made immediately available to American citizens as soon as they are developed..

e.g. "Lyrica" for neuropathy pain. $500-700/month.
the generic "pregabalin" $100/month (Not for sale in the states).

Yes. Another thing the Libs are strangely silent on is Trump's efforts to lower pharmaceutical prices. He said, "we need to do what's best for the people, I don't care about the insurance companies and the drug companies." That's pure populism and should play well with leftists who have long claimed the federal government should be able to use their clout to negotiate with drug companies. But nothing from the left on this.

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[HankD]

Yes. Another thing the Libs are strangely silent on is Trump's efforts to lower pharmaceutical prices. He said, "we need to do what's best for the people, I don't care about the insurance companies and the drug companies." That's pure populism and should play well with leftists who have long claimed the federal government should be able to use their clout to negotiate with drug companies. But nothing from the left on this.

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Agreed, the governmental tentacles extend deeply into the realm of the medical world (through the doors of the financial institutions first of course).

Ever wonder - why so many doctors in the congressional houses?

Is There a Doctor in the House? Yes, 17. And 3 in the Senate.

 

[SovereignGrace]

WASHINGTON — President Trump signed legislation Wednesday to give terminally ill patients the ability to access experimental drugs that have not won approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The "right to try" measure will let patients who have exhausted other options access drugs in early stages of FDA review. Trump has frequently noted his support for the idea, most recently during his State of the Union address in January.

--

Hasn't been any discussion here about this. I think it is a good idea.
Thoughts?

Also another promise kept by Trump.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I am not fooled into believing Trump isn't a liar, but I am amazed at the many campaign promises he has kept or is trying to keep. I thought the fence was a vote tactic, but by golly, he won't budge on DACA without funding for the wall is included in that deal.

 

[Benjamin]

I have no doubt that at least some of the experimental procedures will work to prolong or even sometimes cure and will lead to even better experiments at a quicker pace. There have been some remarkable results with immunotherapy yet it was highly restricted with regulations.

Came across an example, I love to hear this! But how long it will take to widen the experiment to more terminally ill patients is still a concern:

Florida woman beats terminal breast cancer with new therapy

"A Florida woman who was given just months to live is now cancer-free thanks to an experimental immunotherapy, researchers said.

Judy Perkins, 49, told the BBC she was given only three months to live after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer that was spreading quickly throughout her body. She said she had “tennis ball-sized tumors” in her liver and “secondary cancers throughout her body." She said she was unable to be treated with conventional therapy.

However, she underwent therapy that pumped “90 billion cancer-killing immune cells into her body.” She said she felt changes right away.

"About a week after [the therapy] I started to feel something, I had a tumor in my chest that I could feel shrinking," Perkins told the BBC. "It took another week or two for it to completely go away."

She recalled the medical staff "were all very excited and jumping around" after the tumors started to diminish.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute said the therapy was still in experimental stages but it could change cancer treatment. Dr. Steven Rosenberg, the chief of surgery at the institute, said the therapy was started after examining a person’s tumor then using the patient’s white blood cells to attack the cancer. The scientists “screen the patient's white blood cells and extract those capable of attacking the cancer” and then grow the cells.

"The very mutations that cause cancer turn out to be its Achilles heel,” Rosenberg told the BBC.

Rosenberg added the therapy was “highly experimental.”

"At lot of works needs to be done, but the potential exists for a paradigm shift in cancer therapy - a unique drug for every cancer patient - it is very different to any other kind of treatment,” he said.

As for Perkins, she said she has enjoyed her recovery by kayaking, backpacking and traveling."