[Mark11]

Right to Try Laws

by Mark11 on Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:44 pm

I saw this article in the New York Times online. I thought it may interest some patients who are trying to get access to treatments that are not FDA approved and do not qualify for clinical trials. The story mentions a myeloma patient trying to get access to some of the newer therapies.

"Patients Seek ‘Right to Try’ New Drugs"
New York Times, Jan 10, 2015

Excerpts:

Since May, a string of states have passed laws that give critically ill patients the right to try medications that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Deemed “Right to Try” laws, they have passed quickly and often unanimously in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana and Arizona ...

The Colorado law, which is similar to ones in other states, permits terminally ill patients who have exhausted their treatment options — including clinical trials — to obtain therapies that have passed at least the first of three F.D.A. investigation phases. The law does not require companies to provide the treatment, nor does it mandate that insurance companies cover it; the law also allows insurance companies to deny coverage to patients while they use drugs under investigation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/us/patients-seek-right-to-try-new-drugs.html

[mikeb]

Re: Right to Try Laws

by mikeb on Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:42 pm

Hi Mark,

Thanks for posting about this article.

My wife pointed the article out to me, I read it, and was going to post something here about it. But you beat me to the punch.

One other bit of information for people who might not have read the article yet - the myeloma patient in the article is trying to get access to the new monoclonal antibody drugs that are being trialed (daratumumab, SAR650984, and elotuzumab).

Mike