Do you know someone who has died from cancer?
Both my mom and dad battled different forms of cancer and, thanks to modern medicine, both won their respective battle. Yet I know many others who valiantly used every treatment at their disposal and still lost the fight. You surely have your stories, too.
Thousands of Americans will hear from their doctors this year that there are no treatment options left. What that really means is that doctors have exhausted all of the options in the toolbox of approved medicines. Today there are 22 innovative breast cancer treatments awaiting the Food and Drug Administration’s final green light – five of them are already available in Europe. When a person’s life is on the line, they should have the freedom to choose the treatment they pursue. Right now, when traditional treatment fails, people who can afford to can make a trip across the pond to seek experimental drugs.
Sometimes if a person is lucky, this risk pays off, and a death sentence turns into a second shot at life.
That is why the Right-to-Try movement is so important. For every person who lives thanks to alternatives found elsewhere, there are tens of thousands of others who can’t afford to seek experimental treatment.
That’s not fair to the poor, to the disadvantaged or to anyone who just wants a chance. We all should have the freedom to try new treatments that may work. It should be up to you, the individual, if you want to try experimental drugs. No one is doing more to lead this effort than the Goldwater Institute in Arizona and their leader, Darcy Olsen.
Thanks to their educational efforts, Minnesota became one of the first states in the nation to guarantee citizens the option to try experimental treatments when nothing else exists.
You can learn more about this important movement in Darcy Olsen’s book, “The Right to Try: How the Federal Government Prevents Americans from Getting the Lifesaving Treatments They Need.” All proceeds from book sales go to support the national Right-to-Try movement.
Click HERE to buy a copy of this important book.
