[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 46 (Thursday, March 15, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H1647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS DESERVE THE RIGHT TO TRY

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my displeasure that 
the House was unable to pass the Right to Try Act this week. This bill 
would have allowed very sick or terminally ill patients to request 
access to drugs and treatments that have yet to be approved by the FDA.
  For any patient dealing with a serious, life-threatening illness, a 
sliver of hope can go a long way. Yet, for some reason, even after the 
Senate, of all places, passed this proposal nearly unanimously, some of 
my colleagues on the other side of the aisle blocked this measure from 
passing.
  Sick patients deserve the right to utilize every possible tool at 
their disposal, even if it is still experimental. The government really 
has no business telling a terminally ill patient they cannot pursue a 
certain avenue of treatment, and, as its name suggests, this 
legislation gives them the right to try.
  I thank Mr. Rutherford for his work on this legislation. I urge the 
House to bring this back to the floor and pass it as quickly as 
possible.

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