Fachons Lead "Right to Try" Legislative Fight at RI State House

Fachons Lead "Right to Try" Legislative Fight at RI State House

Wendy and Dean Fachon spoke of their effort pressing for legislation to allow terminally ill patients to obtain experimental drugs that have not yet been federally approved but may be in the final stages of testing -- after their son Neil fought the Food and Drug Administration to do so, before passing away at the age of 20 from pediatric cancer. 

As GoLocal first reported in 2016:

Fachon, who had been a student at Northeastern University, had an incurable form of pediatric cancer — Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).  Fachon entered into an approved FDA clinical trial in April of 2016 and ten days into treatment, the FDA pulled the plug on the treatment. Fachon and his family ultimately had to file a lawsuit in Federal Court reversing the FDA’s decision. 

Wendy Fachon urged the Rhode Island Senate to take up the measure -- which unanimously passed the House earlier this year.  

"We would like to emphasize the "Right to Continue" clause of the bill, which sets this bill apart from legislation established by other states. 36 states now have enacted Right to Try, " Fachon told GoLocal.

Please contact your local senator to ask that bill H5676 "Right to Try" be placed on the Health & Human Services Committee agenda for a hearing June 1 or 6, so that it can be brought to the Senate Floor before the 2017 session end."

The "Right to Try" Facebook page can be found HERE.