Week in Review: He Defeated Cancer…

It was just “a little soreness” in his leg.

But that soreness turned out to be a rare bone cancer that turned 11-year-old Diego Morris’ world upside down in 2012. The lifesaving medicine he needed was not yet approved in the United States, so Diego and his family moved to London for treatment.

“I didn’t want to leave my friends or my home,” Diego said of moving overseas. That’s something that no family should ever have to do to access lifesaving treatment.

Thankfully, the treatment was a success, and now Diego is a 24-year-old, cancer-free Arizona State University law student. And he has become a powerful advocate for the Right to Try for Individualized Treatments, a Goldwater Institute law that allows patients to access treatments designed just for them based on their own genetics—without having to leave the country. It’s already been enacted in 16 states, with more to come.

Watch this new Goldwater video to learn more about Diego’s incredible story.

Mississippi Court Should Say ‘No’ to Competitor’s Veto

The evidence is overwhelming: when there aren’t enough health care providers in a market, prices rise, quality diminishes, and patients suffer—sometimes horribly. That’s why the Goldwater Institute is urging the Mississippi Supreme Court not to allow existing mental health clinics to use the state’s “Certificate of Need” (CON) law to block potential competitors from entering the market.

CON laws are often referred to as “competitor’s vetoes” because they require new providers to beg for permission from established businesses to enter the market. They’re obsolete laws—they were originally devised a century ago to regulate railroads, but now encompass a wide range of industries, most notably health care.

In a friend of the court brief, Goldwater is urging the Mississippi Supreme Court to allow economic freedom to flourish. Patients’ lives are at stake, and the court should protect them over the financial interests of existing clinics.

Read more.

Tax Dollars Should Never Be Spent in Secret

Taxpayers have a right to know how their tax dollars are spent—it’s a principle embodied in both Arizona and federal law. That’s why the Goldwater Institute is asking a federal judge to allow Maricopa County, Ariz., taxpayers to see how their money has been spent by the private company tasked with monitoring their local sheriff’s office for over a decade.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office was subjected to federal oversight after former Sheriff Joe Arpaio was sued for violating civil rights laws. But that was three sheriffs and more than 12 years ago, and the agency has since reformed its policies. Still, the federal oversight remains in place, including a 2014 order that keeps the overseer’s spending confidential. Goldwater’s requests for copies of the monitor’s invoices have been repeatedly rejected.

In a friend of the court brief, Goldwater is now asking the judge to reconsider the oversight order so taxpayers can finally see how their money is being used. Tax dollars should never be spent in secret, which is why the Goldwater Institute will always fight for government transparency in Arizona and around the country.

Read more.