DOVER, Del. (AP) - A state Senate committee is set to consider legislation allowing terminally ill patients access to experimental medicines that have not received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
The so-called "Right to Try" bill was to be discussed Wednesday in the Health and Social Services committee.
The legislation is similar to that passed by five states and introduced in 26 others this year. It is aimed at helping patients with terminal illnesses circumvent what supporters say is the FDA's time-consuming and complicated process to authorize "compassionate use" of or "expanded access" to drugs undergoing clinical trials.
The legislation allows people with cancer and other terminal illnesses and their doctors to decide whether to pursue treatment with investigational drugs that have passed the initial safety phase of FDA's approval process.
