Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Terminally ill patients do not have a constitutional right to be treated with experimental drugs, even if they likely will be dead before the medicine is approved, a federal appeals court said Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned last year's decision by a smaller panel of the same court, which held that terminally ill patients may not be denied access to potentially lifesaving drugs. The full court disagreed, saying in an 8-2 ruling that it would not create a constitutional right for patients to assume "any level...

Last year, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that patients have a constitutional right to purchase potentially lifesaving developmental medicines prior to FDA approval, a huge (and hugely controversial) win for patient autonomy. The D.C. Circuit later granted en banc rehearing, and that opinion(pdf) was released this morning. The court now asserts that the Due Process Clause has nothing much to say about the right of the terminally ill to defend themselves against the onslaught of disease; it is the FDA's prerogative to deem a medicine too dangerous to ingest, even if...

By Lisa Richwine WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Terminally ill patients do not have a constitutional right to experimental drugs not approved by regulators, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires a wide battery of research, ranging from animal and laboratory tests to advanced trials with people, before it will consider approving a new drug. Manufacturers say the process can take up to 10 years.