Right to Try

In 2017, the Iowa Legislature became the 36th state to adopt right to try legislation. This legislation allows patients who have exhausted other options to utilize medication in FDA clinical trials that may prove beneficial to their care.

Unfortunately, treatments that are specifically tailored to an individual’s biological composition do not fall under this umbrella because the treatments do not have clinical trials because the treatments are crafted for the patient and their unique needs. Patients needing medication that is experimental in nature simply do not have the time to wait for government processes, so it is important to get government out of the way and give them a chance at life.

Iowa lawmakers should expand upon the legislation passed in 2017 to include medications outside of the traditional clinical trial process. We all know of life’s two certainties: death and taxes. Iowa lawmakers have done an outstanding job of reducing Iowans’ tax burdens in recent years, and efforts should be made to get government out of the way when life and death is truly on the line and options are limited.