Goldwater Institute Teams up with Indiana Mom on Change.org Petition to ask FDA to Support Right To Try

Mom and Right to Try advocate Laura McLinn’s petition on Change.org officially launched today, asking Americans to join her in urging the Food & Drug Administration to work with states that pass “Right To Try” laws so her son Jordan and other terminally ill Americans suffering from MD, ALS, cancer and more, can have access to potentially life-saving investigational treatments before it’s too late.

“Jordan wants to grow up to be a firefighter, because he likes rescuing people. But first we have to rescue him,” said Laura McLinn, Jordan’s mother. “Jordan has a chance if we can get him the special treatment he needs, but we do not have time to wait. We need the FDA to support the Right To Try.”

Right To Try laws have been enacted in Indiana and 16 other states within the past year. Right To Try allows people with terminal illnesses to try medications and treatments that are being safely used in clinical trials, but are not yet on pharmacy shelves. Right To Try laws bring hope to patients by letting them try medicines when they cannot enroll in a clinical trial or don’t have time to wait for the FDA to finish its decade-long approval process. There is a drug that is going through clinical trials now that could help slow the progression of Duchenne in patients like Jordan, but the McLinn’s do not have access to it.

“Seventeen states have adopted Right To Try laws in rapid succession, with overwhelming bipartisan support. The FDA is watching this groundswell of support for giving terminal patients the right to try promising investigational medications and doing nothing,” said Darcy Olsen, the president and CEO of the Goldwater Institute, the organization that is leading the national Right To Try effort.

“With already more than 35,000 signers and 4,100 supportive comments on Laura’s Change.org petition, it’s clear that her call to action to the FDA is resonating with people across the country. Laura’s petition is the latest of a number of petitions launched on Change.org by terminally-ill patients and their loved ones who are seeking access to potentially life-saving drugs,” said Kelly Sawyers, a senior campaigner at Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform that empowers anyone, anywhere, to start, sign and share petitions on issues that matter to them. Eighty-five million people in 196 countries have used Change.org.

“Time is not on Jordan’s side,” said Laura McLinn. “Without access to the drug sooner rather than later, it’s not going to help Jordan. That’s why Right To Try is so important to us.”

Right To Try is already law in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. The law has been introduced in 20 additional states this year.

Right To Try is limited to patients with a terminal disease who have exhausted all conventional treatment options and cannot enroll in a clinical trial. All medications available under the law must have successfully completed the FDA’s safety testing requirement and be part of the FDA’s on-going approval process.

Laura McLinn’s petition coincides with the launch of RightToTry.org, a website that tracks the progress of the national Right To Try effort and give patients and others information about how to use the law. You can also follow the Right To Try movement on Facebook.

Sign Laura McLinn’s petition here.

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