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Groups funded by Charles and David Koch have launched ad campaigns aimed at urging Congress to pass legislation that would make it easier for terminally ill patients to try experimental treatments. The bill passed the Senate unanimously, but FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told the House in October (archive) that the FDA already approves 99% of requests for expanded access/compassionate use, and that the primary roadblock is not the FDA, but drug supply constraints. He said that pharmaceutical companies do not continuously manufacture a drug undergoing clinical trials, but instead produce "discontinuous batches":
Several deep-pocketed political advocacy groups founded by Charles and David Koch are ramping up their advocacy before Congress on a niche issue: access to experimental drugs.
On Monday, several Koch-backed groups, including Freedom Partners and Americans for Prosperity, launched an ad campaign urging Congress to pass so-called "right-to-try" legislation, which aims to help terminally ill patients access experimental treatments that haven't yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Senate unanimously passed a right-to-try bill from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) last August, but it has since stalled in the House. Supporters, including lawmakers on Capitol Hill and other off-the-Hill advocates, are focusing their efforts this month on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which would likely have to clear the legislation before the full House could vote on it.
The new ad campaign — also sponsored by Generation Opportunity and The LIBRE Initiative — directly addresses Congress, saying at the end of one commercial, "Congress, give patients a chance. Pass right to try." In addition to a series of digital ads focused on D.C. and key congressional districts, the campaign will include lobbying efforts by the groups, according to a press release. In a letter sent Monday to Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), executives wrote, "We strongly urge your committee to act expeditiously to approve Right to Try legislation and send the bill to the House Floor for a full vote."
Johnson told STAT he's doing everything he can this month to get the legislation passed, and suggested the vice president might become even more engaged. Vice President Mike Pence has supported right-to-try efforts since he signed a similar law as governor of Indiana.
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @07:35PM
I'm glad you asked! Here it is (hold on to your hat):
They want to sell drugs without that pesky science part. Here's how it works:
1. Make drug xyz that might or might not work.
2. Save $$$ by skipping the testing phase for the normal FDA approval process.
3. Given a large enough population of those taking drug xyz under "right to try," there will be enough in the population who get better while taking drug xyz.
4. Plaster these stories of individuals experiencing miraculous recovery all across the mainstream press and make sure people understand that the FDA are the bad guys.
5. Sell drug xyz to anybody who thinks they might have a related condition.
6. Profit!
If I must insert a ??? step, it should go between steps 4 and 5. That's where some astroturf group of suffers of whatever condition go full victim in the press. Those evil naughty bad guys at the FDA are killing patients!
However, this ??? step is always ongoing. It's how we got here after all.
Oh, I forgot step 7: anybody drug xyz doesn't help is just doing it wrong. They're morally evil wicked failed drug seeker addicted whatever.
(With astounding cognitive dissonance that only a human could manage, people using these right to try laws will not be "drug seekers" because "drug seekers" are evil bad no good naughty wicked failed unpeople.)