Drug access law Trump just signed will cripple FDA—senator is making sure of it

Enlarge / WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 30: President Donald Trump signed S. 204, the 'Right to Try Act' into law. (credit: Getty | Alex Wong)

Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) isn't mincing words about his so-called "right to try" bill, signed into law by President Trump on Wednesday. In a feisty letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Thursday, Johnson put things bluntly: "this law intends to diminish the FDA's power."

The revelation substantiates a leading criticism of the law, which was otherwise pitched as a compassionate measure to help people suffering from life-threatening illnesses obtain easier access to experimental therapies. Critics feared it would simply undercut the agency's regulatory power to ensure experimental treatments are used safely, while offering little aid to patients. After all, the FDA already has a prompt and lenient system for providing such patients access to experimental treatments, and 38 states already have similar "right to try" laws. Proponents, meanwhile, said the new federal law would give desperate patients hope and dismissed concerns that it would weaken the FDA.

But Johnson laid bare his regulatory intentions after being apparently infuriated by some of Gottlieb's recent comments to reporters and on Twitter. Specifically, in a May 22 tweet, Gottlieb wrote, "When the House passes #RightToTry legislation I stand ready to implement it in a way that achieves Congress' intent to promote access and protect patients; and build on #FDA's longstanding commitment to these important goals #RTT."

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