Bill would offer terminally ill access to new drugs

A Bend state representative is among a group of lawmakers working on legislation to give terminally ill patients access to experimental drugs.

State Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, chairs a work group reviewing House Bill 2300.

The “Right to Try” legislation is being advanced in several states by patient advocates frustrated by the years-long federal Food and Drug Administration approval process for experimental drugs.

Supporters say it offers hope to dying patients trying to navigate guidelines for obtaining drugs outside clinical trials.

“It’s a very frustrating situation for them, where they know there’s a drug that might provide some hope, but the FDA is saying, ‘No, not you — not this time,'” said Buehler. who is an orthopedic surgeon in Bend and serves on the Oregon House Committee on Health Care.

State-level approaches are an effort to circumvent the federal system. Opponents say the law could keep patients from utilizing clinical trials in the future.

The so-called Right to Try laws are already in place in five states, and Oregon is among another 26 considering the proposal this year.

To read the bill and more details about it, visit: https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2015R1/Measures/Overview/HB2300