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Senate committee advances ‘right to try’ bill to let some patients seek individualized investigational therapies
Summary
The Senate Health & Human Services Committee voted unanimously to send House Bill 25 12 70 — which would allow eligible patients to pursue individualized investigational medical treatments not yet FDA-approved — to the Committee of the Whole after hours of testimony from patients, physicians and policy advocates.
House Bill 25 12 70, which would let eligible patients pursue individualized investigational medical treatments that are not FDA-approved, was moved to the Committee of the Whole by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee with a favorable recommendation and placed on the consent calendar after unanimous support.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Sandra Doherty, said the measure aims to complement existing federal and state pathways and to help patients with rare or rapidly progressing conditions who cannot wait for standard approval processes. "Both Right to Try and the proposed House Bill 12 70 work in tandem with long established and effective guardrails that ensure physician guidance, patient safety, and informed consent," Doherty said.
Supporters filled the hearing room to describe cases they said show gaps in current access. Naomi Lopez, senior fellow in health care policy at the Goldwater Institute, told the committee the bill modernizes Colorado law to account for individualized genetic and other bespoke therapies that federal pathways do not reach. "This law does not change in any way the successful original right to trial law," Lopez said, and she said the proposal contains patient protections and informed-consent requirements.
Several patients and family members urged passage on the basis of personal experience. Heather Riley, the mother of two children diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, described traveling overseas to obtain gene therapy for her younger child and the financial and logistics burden her family faced. Riley said the treatment succeeded for her child and argued the bill would let other families access similar options in Colorado instead of traveling abroad.
Opponents cautioned about safety and oversight. Declan Whitkamp, an economics student who described having a chronic condition, recommended rejecting the bill, arguing existing programs such as the FDA’s expanded access process already approve more than 99 percent of requests and that the proposed measure removes important safeguards and liability pathways for harmed patients. "Without proper safeguards, desperation can become exploitation," Whitkamp said.
Committee members repeatedly said they were moved by patient testimony. After debate, the committee recorded a unanimous roll call in favor of sending the bill to the Committee of the Whole. The committee placed the measure on the consent calendar, meaning it may be considered by the full Senate without additional committee delay.
Next steps: House Bill 25 12 70 will go to the Committee of the Whole and remain on the consent calendar pending action by the full Senate.
