Prop 303, the ‘Right To Try Act’
The View
Arizona’s general election is right around the corner and this year’s ballot contains a proposition causing debate within the state.
Prop 303, the “Right To Try Act” will offer terminally ill patients the ability to use investigational drugs, if passed.
This means the drug has passed phase one of a clinical trial, but remains under investigation in a clinical trial and has not been approved for general use of the public by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
A patient who is facing death or a permanent state of unconsciousness would have the freedom to use an experimental drug in which they’re interested in.
Such an opportunity appears to have opened up the doors of medical innovation. Now, if one is sick, they can try anything and everything to cure it.
Some, however, have raised objections to this proposition, claiming it could be abused by physicians.
What if a doctor saw the money put into these experimental drugs by patients near their death? What if, then, the doctor decided to prescribe these drugs to his or her patients as often as possible?
The silver lining of this proposition is starkly contrasted by the nefarious purposes to which it could give birth.
According to the proposition, neither healthcare providers nor state agencies are required to provide coverage for experimental drugs.
The proposition states the use of these drugs is a decision to be made only by the terminally-ill patient and their physician, and is not to be made by the government.
So, is this an opportunity for those on death’s door to find life, or will it become an excuse for doctors to pad their paychecks? It is a great opportunity for those nearing the end of their life to try and save it. After all, what do they have to lose?
As the proposition states the patient and the physician must make the decision, the chances of a physician abusing investigational drugs is greatly reduced.
