Monterey, CA Terminally Ill Patients Hope To Receive New Cancer Drugs But The Process Is Arduous

There are a number of new medicines in the pipeline which are promising new drugs to treat cancer and other potentially critical illnesses.  However, for many it may be too late by the time the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) gets around to approving them.  Many patients are demanding the right to try drugs, even if they haven't been proved successful in clinical trials.  A number of states including Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan & Missouri have already enacted legislation to allow this and I hope California does the same.  "It's my life," Larry Kutt, who has advanced blood cancer, told The New York Times, "and I want the chance to save it."  Despite the new legislation, many patients are still having difficulty getting access to the new medications as drug companies are fearful of releasing them to the public before they have received full approval from the FDA.  A Federal Appeals court ruled in 2007 that patients do not have the constitutional right to receive drugs which haven't been approved by the FDA.  However, many states are still trying to get patient access to the drugs and the FDA has a process in place for helping very ill people receive unapproved treatments