Diminishing the FDA’s power was my intent: Right-to-try author scolds Scott Gottlieb as agency implements new law
In a bizarre twist for the newly signed “right-to-try” law, the FDA — cut out of the process of signing off on certain uses of experimental drugs for terminally ill patients by that law — now has to figure out how to implement it. And already, the bill’s main author is unhappy with commissioner Scott Gottlieb in the aftermath and has pointedly made his feelings known in a letter.
“This law intends to diminish the FDA’s power over people’s lives, not increase it,” Senator Ron Johnson, Republican from Wisconsin, wrote to Gottlieb yesterday, displeased over tweets and statements the commissioner has made recently around implementation of the law. The statement is remarkable because the issue has long been framed by “right-to-try” supporters as a win for terminally ill patients and not an end-around to weaken the FDA.
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