Revisiting the Right to Try Act
Document Type
Presentation
Type
EnACT
Start Date
29-4-2020 11:15 AM
End Date
29-4-2020 11:30 AM
Abstract
Healthcare plays an integral role in the welfare of Americans all across the country. Key issues in medicine revolve around improving the quality, accessibility, and ethicality of care affecting millions across the country. In the process of promoting social change, prioritizing the needs of those who are most vulnerable has dominated the conversation surrounding healthcare. Included are patients with life-threatening or terminal illnesses, whose livelihoods are at stake and treatments are at the intersection of ethics and healthcare.
In order to address such an issue, the 2018 Right to Try Act (S. 204) lays out a foundation for the aforementioned patients to access experimental drugs and therapy. The goal is to allow patients who have exhausted all other medical options to apply for drugs that have gone through Phase I testing by the FDA. The legislation attempts to expand accessibility while also addressing various ethical concerns surrounding experimental therapy.
While the act provides a general foundation, its vague structure also creates problems regarding its actual effectiveness. Drug companies do not have to provide the treatments, and the lack of oversight on the drugs creates new ethical concerns surrounding the patients well-being. These concerns lower the legislation’s efficiency, and up to this point, only two patients have successfully applied for experimental treatment through the act.
Throughout our research, we have concluded that while this act is admirable in its intent, it falls short in implementation, with few patients actually receiving novel care due to this act. For our activism, we have launched a website to help inform the general public about this act, its shortfalls, and ways to overcome these negatives. We plan on posting in the IMSA Virtual Campus to spread awareness about this care within the IMSA community.
Revisiting the Right to Try Act
Healthcare plays an integral role in the welfare of Americans all across the country. Key issues in medicine revolve around improving the quality, accessibility, and ethicality of care affecting millions across the country. In the process of promoting social change, prioritizing the needs of those who are most vulnerable has dominated the conversation surrounding healthcare. Included are patients with life-threatening or terminal illnesses, whose livelihoods are at stake and treatments are at the intersection of ethics and healthcare.
In order to address such an issue, the 2018 Right to Try Act (S. 204) lays out a foundation for the aforementioned patients to access experimental drugs and therapy. The goal is to allow patients who have exhausted all other medical options to apply for drugs that have gone through Phase I testing by the FDA. The legislation attempts to expand accessibility while also addressing various ethical concerns surrounding experimental therapy.
While the act provides a general foundation, its vague structure also creates problems regarding its actual effectiveness. Drug companies do not have to provide the treatments, and the lack of oversight on the drugs creates new ethical concerns surrounding the patients well-being. These concerns lower the legislation’s efficiency, and up to this point, only two patients have successfully applied for experimental treatment through the act.
Throughout our research, we have concluded that while this act is admirable in its intent, it falls short in implementation, with few patients actually receiving novel care due to this act. For our activism, we have launched a website to help inform the general public about this act, its shortfalls, and ways to overcome these negatives. We plan on posting in the IMSA Virtual Campus to spread awareness about this care within the IMSA community.