‘Right to Try’ bill going to committee

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Legislation allowing terminally ill patients access to medicines that may help them and that have already been given preliminary approval by the Food and Drug Administration – but not yet on pharmacy shelves – is to go before an Oklahoma House committee.

The House Public Health Committee will consider the Oklahoma Right To Try bill on Wednesday. Five states have passed similar laws. Oklahoma is one of 29 states considering the measures.

The bill would allow the terminally ill to bypass an FDA rule allowing people to ask permission for access to investigational medicines – but that takes hundreds of hours of paperwork and months to gain approval. There are dozens of documented cases of people dying while waiting for approval.

The bill is supported by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute.