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Analysis and Health

US 'right to try' drugs law could hurt terminally ill people

By Andy Coghlan

31 May 2018

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Donald Trump has signed the Right to Try Act into law

Alex Wong/Getty

To people with incurable illnesses, Donald Trump must seem like their saviour. On Wednesday, he the Right to Try Act, which will give terminally ill people greater access to experimental medical treatments. That might sound good – but experimental means they haven’t been fully tested to make sure they are safe, or even that they work.

People in the US with serious illnesses who want to try experimental medicines , but only with the permission of their doctor,…

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