Senators passed a bill authorizing the use of investigational treatments for patients under certain conditions. House Bill 1080 allows physicians to use drugs or devices that have successfully completed phase one of a clinical trial, but haven’t been approved for general use by the FDA. Patients must have an advanced illness and have considered all other options. Senator Blake Curd is a prime sponsor of the measure.
“House Bill 1080 would give patients and physicians the option for additional treatments,” Curd says. “Things that are not accepted, maybe not permitted by the FDA, but have undergone some clinical research and some evaluation. They’ve passed phase one of the FDA clinical trials for medications, products, and/or services. And in those instances, those physicians could provide those hopes, those opportunities to patients to prolong their life or perhaps ease their suffering.”
The bill also restricts certain causes of action rising from in the investigational treatment. Senators voted unanimously to pass the measure.