A Guide to the ‘Right to Try’ Debate

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed into law a national “right to try” measure, intended to make it easier for terminally ill patients to get access to experimental drugs. Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress voted in favor of the bill, making it a rare political issue with bipartisan support. Forty states have enacted their own versions of right-to-try. But some physicians and medical ethicists -- as well as the drug industry and even patient-advocacy groups -- oppose such a right as unnecessary and not in the public interest.

The notion of giving terminally ill Americans access to more experimental therapies has been around for decades. Advocates have argued unsuccessfully in court that a right to try is guaranteed by the Constitution. The push for the national law was aided by the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Phoenix that, among other things, runs a pro-right to try website. The group worked with lawmakers in Colorado to get the first state-level law passed in 2014.