[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PATIENTS' RIGHT TO TRY EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS

  (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 recognize the passage of 
the Right to Try Act--better late than never.
  After months of jumping through parliamentary hoops to pass this 
legislation out of both the House and the Senate, we are finally able 
to put the Right to Try Act on the President's desk.
  This bill would allow very sick or terminally ill patients to request 
access to drugs and treatments that have yet to be approved by the FDA. 
This is a bipartisan issue. So far, 40 States have already adopted 
Right to Try laws but are unable to actually enforce them. This bill 
changes that.
  While giving terminally ill patients the right to try experimental 
medicine won't always be successful, it does give patients one final 
avenue of hope. For those who have exhausted all other possibilities of 
conventional treatment, they deserve the opportunity to leave no stone 
unturned. Also, the industry can learn from their experience.
  I am disappointed that some in the Senate chose to delay this very 
time-sensitive bill, but I am pleased the President now can make Right 
to Try the law of the land.

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