Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

listen live donate
listen live donate
listen live
donate
  • News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
    Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
  • Podcasts & Shows
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
    Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • Health Care
  •  

Federal Right To Try Law Could Mean More Access — And Risk — For California Patients

  •  Sammy Caiola 
Thursday, May 31, 2018 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
A. / Flickr
 

A. / Flickr

California’s Right to Try law is supposed to give terminally ill patients access to drugs that haven’t been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Since it was enacted in 2017 drug companies have been reluctant to participate. A new federal law signed by President Donald Trump Wednesday could solve that problem, but opponents say it will undermine the FDA’s crucial drug-vetting process.

Drugmakers worry that if they give experimental drugs that only have passed the first phase of clinical trials to dying patients and they suffer adverse effects, the FDA will be less likely to approve the drug when it comes time for an official review.

The federal Right to Try law provides broader legal protections for drug companies than the California version does, and limits the FDA’s access to data collected through Right to Try patients.

Naomi Lopez Bauman is director of health care policy for The Goldwater Institute, a free-market organization that helped push through California’s policy and similar laws in roughly three dozen states. “The federal legislation takes a step further in providing protection for liability for manufacturers who would be willing to participate in Right to Try,” she said. “That could go a long way in making manufacturers more comfortable.”

Supporters of the law say it helps patients who are running out of time zip past the FDA’s red tape. But David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, said that tape is there for the patient’s own good.

“It gives them a process for doing that that’s vetted, to make it as safe as possible,” he said, “while also promoting what we want as a top priority: which is to actually do the research to find drugs that are safe and effective to give to everybody.”

Magnus worries that if the FDA isn’t overseeing early access to drugs, they won’t be able to track any negative side effects that Right to Try patients experience.  He argues that information could be pertinent as the drug moves through the clinical trial process.

The federal law also expands who’s eligible to use Right to Try. California law states that a patient must have just a few months to live. Under the federal policy, anyone with a life-threatening condition who has exhausted all other options can ask for the drugs.


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

 right to try

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Sammy Caiola

Former Healthcare Reporter

Sammy Caiola has been covering medical breakthroughs, fitness fads and health policy in California since 2014. Before joining CapRadio, Sammy was a health reporter at The Sacramento Bee.  Read Full Bio 

 @sammycaiola Email Sammy Caiola

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More Health Care Stories

Jae C. Hong / AP Photo

FDA experts are still puzzled over who should get which covid shots and when

January 29, 2023

Many Americans don't know basic abortion facts. Test your knowledge

January 27, 2023

Toby Talbot/AP

FDA moves to ease restrictions on blood donations for men who have sex with men

January 28, 2023

Most Viewed

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

California coronavirus updates: COVID-19 pandemic has shifted people's finances

Still testing positive after day 10? How to decide when to end your COVID isolation

Tyre Nichols loved skateboarding. That's how his friends say they'll remember him

North Davis store becomes first Peet's Coffee in the country to form a union

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

California coronavirus updates: COVID-19 pandemic has shifted people's finances

Still testing positive after day 10? How to decide when to end your COVID isolation

Tyre Nichols loved skateboarding. That's how his friends say they'll remember him

North Davis store becomes first Peet's Coffee in the country to form a union

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    •  
      (916) 278-8900
    •  
      (877) 480-5900
    •  Contact / Feedback
    •  Submit a News Tip
  • About

    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Stations & Coverage Map
    • Careers & Internships
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Press
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile Apps
    • Smart Speakers
    • Podcasts & Shows
    • On-Air Schedules
    • Daily Playlist
    • Signal Status
  • Connect

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen Live

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2023, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.