National "Right To Try" Website Launches; Patients Asked to Share Their Stories Goldwater Institute

Right To Try laws allow doctors to prescribe treatments to the terminally ill that are being used in clinical trials but are not yet on pharmacy shelves. Right To Try expands access to potentially life-saving treatments years before patients would normally be able to access them. Twenty-one states have adopted Right To Try laws and they have been introduced in a dozen more. The Goldwater Institute’s goal is to pass Right To Try in all 50 states.

The Right To Try website is a national resource for patients, their families and advocates to learn more about Right To Try, track its progress as it get passed in additional states, share patients stories, support the cause and more. Journalists and bloggers will also find it a useful resource when looking for patient stories that illustrate the need for Right To Try laws.

With the launch of the website, the Goldwater Institute is asking terminal patients to please share their stories. If you are a patient in need of an investigational treatment, or have been rejected from clinical trials or have applied to the FDA for “compassionate use” and are still waiting on your treatment, we want to hear from you.

“When Right To Try was being considered in Indiana, I knew I needed to tell lawmakers about my son Jordan’s story. They needed to hear from a family who would be impacted by this important law. Every person with a loved one who is facing a terminal illness needs to get involved with Right To Try. We need voices in every state who will talk about the importance of getting investigational medications into the hands of sick people before it’s too late,” said Laura McLinn, mother of Jordan McLinn, a 6-year-old Indiana boy, diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The website offers multiple ways to get involved with Right To Try: people can sign the Change.org petition in support of the law, shop for Right To Try merchandise, donate to help expand the movement nationally and/or help terminally ill patients pay for investigational treatments not covered by their insurance.

Almost 100,000 people have signed the Change.org petition asking the FDA to support Right To Try; and in the past week, 81 people have started their own Change.org petitions asking their state lawmakers to pass Right To Try. If you would like to start a petition or sign an existing petition to have Right To Try legislation introduced in your state please click here.

The Goldwater Institute developed the Right To Try legislation and is leading the national campaign. Learn more about Right To Try at RightToTry.org or on our Facebook page.

About the Goldwater Institute

The Goldwater Institute drives results by working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and strengthen the freedom guaranteed to all Americans in the constitutions of the United States and all 50 states. With the blessing of its namesake, the Goldwater Institute opened in 1988. Its early years focused on defending liberty in Barry Goldwater’s home state of Arizona. Today, the Goldwater Institute is a national leader for constitutionally limited government respected by the left and right for its adherence to principle and real world impact. No less a liberal icon than the New York Times calls the Goldwater Institute a “watchdog for conservative ideals” that plays an “outsize role” in American political life.