Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Photo: RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration will soon need to start implementing “right to try” legislation, but that task may not be as easy — or as effective — as some supporters hope.
The details: Both the House and Senate have passed the same “right to try” bill, expanding terminally ill patients’ access to unapproved medicines, and President Trump seems eager to sign it.
What they’re saying: The FDA already has an existing process for patients to access drugs that are still undergoing clinical trials; the new process will run parallel to that existing one.
- “The Right to Try Act won't remove the primary roadblock facing terminally ill patients who want to test unapproved, investigational therapies: access to the drug by its developer,” former pharmaceutical executive Michael Becker writes in an op-ed for NPR.
- Drug makers are often hesitant to provide experimental drugs outside of their more rigorous clinical trials. It’s expensive, for starters (these products aren’t being mass produced yet), and patients’ experiences outside a trial are less predictable.
- “Bad results that scare off potential clinical trial participants or investors are far more likely. That could ultimately slow a drug’s path to market, and limit future access,” Bloomberg columnist Max Nisen argues.
Yes, but: FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb endorsed the bill and said the FDA would be able to implement it. And his public-health track record so far is pretty strong. And if the worst thing that happens is that drug companies aren’t eager to participate in this process, that doesn’t necessarily make anyone’s life worse.