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Senior Citizen Politics
Lawmakers to Reintroduce Bill Legalizing
Experimental Medications for Terminally Sick
Court rules terminally ill do not have right to
unapproved prescription drugs, even if their physicians recommend
Aug. 17, 2007 - Lawmakers likely will reintroduce
legislation that would require
FDA to
allow terminally-ill patients to purchase experimental drugs with the
recommendation of their physician,
CongressDaily
reports. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.)
last session introduced the Access, Compassion, Care and Ethics for
Seriously Ill Patients Act, but the bill "did not gain traction,"
according to
CongressDaily.
This session the bill likely will be introduced by
Brownback and Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) (Edney,
CongressDaily,
8/15).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit earlier this month ruled that terminally ill patients
do not have the right to obtain access to unapproved prescription drugs
that potentially are lifesaving, even if their physicians say the
treatments offer the best chance of improved health. In 2003, the
Abigail Alliance
for Better Access to Developmental Drugs and the
Washington Legal
Foundation filed a lawsuit against FDA to obtain access to
experimental medications for terminally ill cancer patients.
The lawsuit asked FDA to provide a special initial
approval of experimental medications that appear effective and allow
their sale and distribution to terminally ill patients who have no other
approved treatment options. FDA argued that programs currently exist to
provide experimental medications to terminally ill patients and that
increased access to such treatments would lead to unacceptable risk (Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, 8/8).
Frank Burroughs, founder of the alliance, believes
that the increased media attention of the appeals case will bolster the
bill's chance of passage. "It was a devastating decision for the Abigail
Alliance, but the upside of it is it's generated media coverage and that
coverage is definitely positive," Burroughs said (CongressDaily,
8/15).
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