Among the measures that did not die over the budget impasse between the House and Senate is a bill making it easier for terminally ill patients to have access to experimental drugs.
One of the last bills the Senate passed Tuesday before adjourning for the day is by Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg).
“This bill gives patients with life-limiting illnesses or conditions a choice to try experimental medications or medical products,” said Brandes.
Those eligible to receive the benefits of the bill must be diagnosed to be terminal within 12 months, and would be allowed to use experimental drugs that are in at least the first phase of FDA testing. Normally, the federal approval process for experimental drugs is seen as lengthy and burdensome, and could take as long as a decade for approval. With the House passing the measure in mid-April and the Senate’s latest approval, the measure now heads to Governor Rick Scott.
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