House Approves Right-To-Try Legislation Despite Serious Patient Safety Concerns

Washington, D.C.—The House of Representatives tonight passed legislation that would change the process for accessing experimental drugs without including necessary patient safeguards. The Right-to-Try legislation was opposed by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) along with more than 80 other organizations representing millions of patients.

A statement from ACS CAN President Chris Hansen follows:

“The legislation passed today risks undermining critical patient safety considerations essential for developing promising new therapies without causing undue harm. Those concerns include removing the Food and Drug Administration from consulting on drug dosing, scheduling and administration among other important safety measures that the agency is uniquely qualified to understand.

“Patients will not likely see increased access to treatments under this bill, but would instead face increased risks from weakened oversight and safety measures.

“We urge the Senate to reject this legislation and instead continue to engage with the patient community in constructive discussion on ways to meaningfully improve patients’ ability to access new treatments while preserving critical patient protections.”