OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Introduction of the Right to Try Clarification Act

Floor Speech

Date: March 28, 2023
Location: Washington, DC

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today I introduced the Right to Try Clarification Act. This legislation would expand access to life- changing treatments by including in the federal Right to Try Act Schedule I substances that have completed phase 1 clinical studies.

Oregon has a long legacy of ensuring that end-of-life patients have access to the full spectrum of treatment options to alleviate their condition and improve their quality of life. Patients and doctors deserve to discuss treatments--including psilocybin--that researchers find provide immediate and sustained relief from pain, anxiety, and depression for people battling terminal illness.

Federal restrictions have obstructed access to end-of-life care for too long, this legislation will change that and ensure that all patients have the Right to Try.

The psychedelics laws in this country are broken, including our laws governing patients' access to new and promising end-of-life care. Forty-one state legislatures have passed Right to Try laws to allow terminally ill patients access to treatments, including psilocybin, that are still in investigational stages. Both psilocybin and MDMA have demonstrated tremendous care potential in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials.

The Drug Enforcement Agency, however, has refused to accommodate Right to Try laws and denied terminally ill patients their freedom to elect their preferred treatments. These patients deserve to be able to discuss and pursue treatments with their doctors that researchers are finding provide immediate, substantial, and sustained relief from anxiety and depression for people battling terminal illness. That is why the Right to Try Clarification Act is necessary to ensure patients have the Right to Try these treatment options.

I look forward to working my co-leads Representatives Nancy Mace, Madeline Dean, Andy Biggs, and Luis Correa to enact this legislation and clarify and strengthen the Right to Try.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward