Arizona compassionate use bill advances
The Arizona Senate passed a bill that would allow physicians to prescribe investigational products to eligible terminally ill patients who have no "comparable or satisfactory" FDA-approved treatment options. The bill would prohibit the state from taking any action against a doctor or health care institution that prescribes or treats a patient with an investigational treatment, defined as a drug, biologic or device that has completed Phase I testing but does not have FDA approval. The Arizona House of Representatives has already passed the bill, which now goes to Gov. Janice Brewer. If she does not veto the bill, it will be subject to voter approval in the state's November general election.
Similar bills are moving through the legislatures of at least two other states: Louisiana and Missouri. ...