West Hawaii Today has this item on state lawmakers introducing legislation to give terminally ill patients access to drugs and medical treatment “that have not received final approval by the federal Food and Drug Administration.” Excerpt:

The proposed bills — House Bill 882 and House Bill 92 and Senate Bill 585 — are part of a national movement, dubbed “Right to Try,” that has been gaining momentum. Last year, five states enacted such laws for terminally ill patients with no other medication or treatment options. Hawaii is among the 26 other states that may follow.

Rep. Richard Creagan, D-Naalehu, Ocean View, Captain Cook, Kealakekua, Kailua-Kona, said the effort is being led by the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based think tank with model “Right to Try” bills that lawmakers can use as a starting point and modify, as needed. …

Creagan, a physician and vice chairman of the House health committee, met a Goldwater Institute representative while at a conference in Minnesota last summer.

Creagan said he likes the idea of offering an alternative or options to the terminally ill who cannot get into a clinical study and have no other way to access potentially life-saving experimental drugs or treatments. …

The newspaper reports that all three bills have passed first reading, “but there had been no hearing, feedback or testimony, as of press time Tuesday.”

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