Tag: Right to try

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A number of important developments have occurred on key issues that the New York Analysis of Policy and Government recently addressed.  Here’s a roundup:

RIGHT TO TRY

In March, we reported that the House of Representatives approved the “Right to Try” bill. The President has now signed the legislation, which allows those terminally ill to use experimental drugs. The common-sense measure authorizes the use of eligible investigational drugs by eligible patients who have been diagnosed with a stage of a disease or condition in which there is reasonable likelihood that death will occur within a matter of months, or with another eligible illness. Trump has been enthusiastic about the measure, even citing it in his State of the Union address.

The bill is modeled off a federal policy known as “Compassionate Use,” but contains several key changes meant to make it faster and easier for patients to obtain experimental therapies. The Right To Try advocacy group notes that “Over 1 million Americans die from a terminal illness every year. Many spend years searching for a potential cure, or struggle in vain to get accepted into a clinical trial. Unfortunately, FDA red tape and government regulations restrict access to promising new treatments, and for those who do get access, it’s often too late…Fewer than 3 percent of terminally ill patients gain access to investigational treatments through clinical trials. Right to Try was designed to help the other 97 percent…While millions of Americans will be diagnosed with or die of terminal illnesses each year, compassionate use exceptions are only granted to about 1,200 patients a year. Many patients run out of time before they can qualify for the exemption or complete the process. Right To Try laws help patients get immediate access to the medical treatments they need before it’s too late.”

BIKE LANES

In May, we reported how the use of state and local funds to build bike lanes was wasteful. There’s new evidence to back that up. A Daily Mail review found that Seattle’s new bike lane costs the taxpayers an absurd $12 million per mile. As The New York Analysis of Policy and Government noted in May, studies have found that only  about 0.6% of commuters  can make use of these lanes. The other 99.4% could be inconvenienced by them.

The Wall Street Journal reported that in cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, Seattle, Boulder and even the trendy-friendly borough of Brooklyn, NYC, citizens are rising up against the practice of carving up roads for bike lanes. The publication found that ““Retrofitting city streets for protected bike lanes can be pricey. A master plan prepared for Baltimore’s Transportation Department recommended adding 52.5 miles over five years at a cost of $26 million…” Author and futurist Syd Mead, writing in The Los Angeles Daily News noted: “While the bicycle has many virtues, it also prompts people to go overboard. It’s often lauded as the transportation of tomorrow and the savior of cities. It is not. It is called transportation. It is not… It … operates under rigid limitations: the physical condition (and therefore age) of the rider, seasons and weather conditions, and terrain…Today there is an almost messianic insistence that bicycles should be a part of the urban transit mix. …In large urban centers…using a bicycle to traverse 10, 15, or 20 miles one-way is simply not a feasible proposition… any cost/efficiency formulae that purport to justify such infrastructure enter the realm of pure fantasy.”

CROWD SIZE

During the 2016 presidential campaign, and in the press reports concerning the Inauguration, The New York Analysis of Policy and Government noted that press estimates of attendees at Trump events significantly underestimated crowd size.  There’s new evidence of that. The Free Beacon  reports that “New York Times reporter Julie Hirschfeld Davis conceded …that President Donald Trump was correct to call out her report, saying her estimated crowd size for his Nashville rally a night earlier was incorrect. Davis’ original report said Trump’s rally attracted approximately 1,000 people, but the fire marshal’s office said they estimated ‘approximately 5,500 people.’ ”

EDUCATION SPENDING

Last November, the New York Analysis of Policy and Government reported that U.S. school systems were “Spending More and Getting Less.”  The New York Post and the Empire Center think tank have recently analyzed data from the biggest-spending state, New York, which spends more per student than any other state.

The results indicate that all those dollars haven’t produced results, notes the New York Post . “A bit more than half the city’s white students show proficiency in math and reading. Fewer than one in 10 black, and fewer than one in five Hispanic, eighth-graders show proficiency in math.” The Wall Street Journal reports that in public schools statewide, 39.8% of students in grades three through eight were proficient in English in the spring, up by 1.9 percentage points from 2016. In math, 40.2% hit that mark, up 1.1 percentage points.  However, there are concerns that even those limited and still poor results are due to watered down exams.

MEDIA BIAS

We have consistently reported on the growing problem of media bias, specifically, the tie-in between left-wing politicians and major news organizations.  A list published in Snopes  outlines some of the familial ties that led to concern during the Obama era:

  • ABC News executive producer Ian Cameron,married to Susan Rice, National Security Adviser.
  • CBS President David Rhodes, brother of Ben Rhodes, Obama’s Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications.
  • ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman, married to former Whitehouse Press Secretary Jay Carney
  • ABC News and Univision reporter Matthew Jaffe, married to Katie Hogan, Obama’s Deputy Press Secretary
  • ABC President Ben Sherwood, brother of Obama’s Special Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood
  • CNN President Virginia Moseley, married to former Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Secretary Tom Nides.

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Obviously, since the end of the Obama’s presidency, there have been changes.

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Congress Considers Giving Dying Patients “Right to Try”

Far too many Americans have experienced the terrible frustration of watching a loved one endure the final stages of a terminal disease, without access to potentially live-extending experimental medication because the Food and Drug Administration has yet to grant approval.

The U.S. House of Representatives is finally considering legislation which could address that dilemma. The bill would “authorize the use of eligible investigational drugs by eligible patients who have been diagnosed with a stage of a disease or condition in which there is reasonable likelihood that death will occur within a matter of months, or with another eligible illness, and for other purposes.”  Similar legislation was passed by the Senate last August, and has been endorsed by President Trump, who noted his support in his State of the Union address.  Vice President Pence also has publicly approved the concept.

The bill is modeled off a federal policy known as “Compassionate Use,” but contains several key changes meant to make it faster and easier for patients to obtain experimental therapies.

The Right To Try advocacy group notes that “Over 1 million Americans die from a terminal illness every year. Many spend years searching for a potential cure, or struggle in vain to get accepted into a clinical trial. Unfortunately, FDA red tape and government regulations restrict access to promising new treatments, and for those who do get access, it’s often too late…Fewer than 3 percent of terminally ill patients gain access to investigational treatments through clinical trials. Right to Try was designed to help the other 97 percent…While millions of Americans will be diagnosed with or die of terminal illnesses each year, compassionate use exceptions are only granted to about 1,200 patients a year. Many patients run out of time before they can qualify for the exemption or complete the process. Right To Try laws help patients get immediate access to the medical treatments they need before it’s too late.”

These side effects can be in varied http://valsonindia.com/portfolio_category/home-products/?lang=it cialis tadalafil uk forms like blocked nose, headache, mild nausea, mild dehydration, a slight sensation in eyes of stinging. No side effects Herbal sexual supplements in the form of tablets and this was followed valsonindia.com buy cialis online in jelly form. Erectile dysfunction viagra no prescription Discover More Here has been a common problem in men. The canadian pharmacies viagra tablets are now available at online pharmacies at much reasonable price. The Right To Try  group reports that a similar concept has been signed into law in 38 states including  Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

The Goldwater Institute notes: “For patients suffering from terminal illnesses, the FDA is the arbiter of life and death. These patients… face little chance of recovery… The FDA, however, often stands between the patients and the treatments that may alleviate their symptoms or provide a cure… Sadly, over half a million cancer patients and thousands of patients with other terminal illnesses die each year as the bureaucratic wheels at the FDA slowly turn. Patients should be free to exercise a basic freedom – attempting to preserve one’s own life. The burdens imposed on a terminal patient who fights to save his or her own life are a violation of personal liberty. Such people should have the option of accessing investigational drugs which have passed basic safety tests, provided there is a doctor’s recommendation, informed consent, and the willingness of the manufacturer of the medication to make such drugs available.”

There is a glaring lack of logic in the practice of withholding experimental medications that may hold the only source of hope for patients facing death. There is also a serious legal and constitutional issue, as well. There is no obvious right or grant of power to Washington to intervene in the decision of qualified physician to attempt every possible measure to save or extend the life of a terminally ill patient.

FDA photo

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Dying patients seek the”Right to Try” experimental drugs

As the new year approaches, critically ill Americans are desperately hoping that Washington finally enacts comprehensive “Right to try” legislation.

The Right to try concept allows terminally ill people access to experimental drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, if recommended by a physician. According to the New York Times  “Instead of relying on the F.D.A. to move quickly, the “right to try” laws seek to speed up access by eliminating the F.D.A. from the process entirely. Once a doctor and patient decide that an experimental drug is the right choice, the laws let them apply to the drug company directly.”

According to Regulation Tracker  “Since early 2014, more than 20 states have introduced so-called “Right to Try” bills in the hopes of allowing terminally ill patients to access experimental—and potentially life-saving—treatments more easily. These bills are modeled off a federal policy known as “Compassionate Use,” but contain several key changes meant to make it faster and easier for patients to obtain experimental therapies.”

There is a glaring lack of logic in the practice of withholding experimental medications that may hold the only source of hope for patients facing death. There is also a serious legal and constitutional issue, as well. There is no obvious right or grant of power to Washington to intervene in the decision of qualified physician to attempt every possible measure to save the life of a terminally ill patient.

According to the Washington Post,  “Opponents of the approach call it an ill-advised effort that circumvents federal law, undermines the drug development process and threatens to harm more people than it helps by providing access to medications that haven’t been proven safe and effective.”

The Goldwater Institute notes: “For patients suffering from terminal illnesses, the FDA is the arbiter of life and death. These patients, suffering from diseases ranging from ALS to Zellweger Syndrome, face little chance of recovery… The FDA, however, often stands between the patients and the treatments that may alleviate their symptoms or provide a cure. To access these treatments, patients must either go through a lengthy FDA exemption process or wait for the treatments to receive FDA approval, which can take a decade or more and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Sadly, over half a million cancer patients and thousands of patients with other terminal illnesses die each year as the bureaucratic wheels at the FDA slowly turn.
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“Patients should be free to exercise a basic freedom – attempting to preserve one’s own life. The burdens imposed on a terminal patient who fights to save his or her own life are a violation of personal liberty. Such people should have the option of accessing investigational drugs which have passed basic safety tests, provided there is a doctor’s recommendation, informed consent, and the willingness of the manufacturer of the medication to make such drugs available.

“States should enact “Right to Try” measures to protect the fundamental right of people to try to save their own lives. Designed by the Goldwater Institute, this initiative would allow terminal patients access to investigational drugs that have completed basic safety testing, thereby dramatically reducing paperwork, wait times and bureaucracy, and, most importantly, potentially saving lives…

“The FDA is concerned that allowing wider access to investigational medications outside the clinical trial setting will create a lack of test subjects who are willing to join a clinical trial, because in clinical trials some patients receive placebos or already approved medications instead of the investigational drug. The agency argues that freer access to such medications would discourage enrollment in the double blind clinical trials and ultimately harm scientific understanding of the medications. Therefore, the FDA puts protection of the clinical-trial process above the lives of terminally ill patients.

“Beyond the lack of humanity inherent in this policy, there are additional flaws to the FDA’s position. Experimental medications designed to treat terminal illnesses are only a subset of the drugs undergoing clinical trials.The FDA’s position makes the assumption that the current clinical trial process, complete with the double blind studies, is the only sound way to test new medications. However, many scholars and even the former Director of the FDA, Andrew von Eschenbach, have urged alternatives to the current clinical trial process.  Nevertheless, the agency continues to place its outdated processes above all other concerns.”

As Washington hesitates, state governments are acting. 23 states have enacted various forms of Right to try laws, and another 13 are considering similar bills.