Montana Passes Law Allowing Terminally Ill Patients to Tell The FDA to Pound Sand

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ultimate control over what drugs and medical technologies are allowed to be used in the United States. Because of the expense of getting FDA approval the drug and medical technology markets (at least the legal ones) are almost entirely monopolize by extremely wealth and established companies. Getting FDA approval also requires a very long and drawn out process, which means the United States lags many other countries in medial technology (but medical tourism gives people in the United States access to better technology). What’s especially stupid is that the FDA doesn’t even allow terminally ill patients, people with literally nothing to lose, to try unapproved drugs or medical technologies that may save their lives. Montana appears to be the first state to recognize the absurdity of this. It recently passed a law that would allow terminally ill patients in Montana to tell the FDA to pound sand:

On Monday, the Montana State Senate unanimously passed a “right to try” bill, which would allow terminally ill patients to ignore federal restrictions on experimental treatments and drugs. Too often, patients who cannot be cured by conventional treatment are denied the ability to try new options thanks to onerous regulations by the FDA.

It’s about time somebody did this. There is absolutely no reason why a terminally ill patient shouldn’t be able to try any and all means available to them to save their own life. I would even go a step further and say a person has the right to try any drug or medical technology they want regardless if they’re terminally ill or not. It’s your body so you should be free to do with it as you please. But this is at least a step away from the fucking ridiculous, which is appreciated.