Unfortunately, Dr. Pence's understanding of the facts behind this issue appear substantially incomplete.  As with most complex issues, brief talking points and sound bites don't capture that complexity. It is now 40 states with Right to Try laws, all passed with near unanimous, and in many cases unanimous, bipartisan support, and the laws have been signed by governors of both parties. Right to Try is not an attempt to weaken FDA's  authority. That claim, being advanced by some opponents of the concept, is nothing more than an ideological dog whistle.  FDA's access programs have not worked nearly as well as they must and persons who have taken the time to fully understand why they don't, know it. Right to Try is a response to decades of inaction by the medical innovation community, including bioethicists, the FDA and Congress to address this very real issue. Bioethicists would be more effective in their role of patient protectors by working directly with the affected patient communities to solve this problem, instead of opposing those community's decision to force a solution through legislation after decades of trying to convince, for example, bioethicists, that the system they have helped build is focused too much on the innovation process and not nearly enough on patients.  In some very important ways, bioethicists have lost their way.

Steven Walker, Co-founder, Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs, www.abigail-alliance.org