Panel approves 'right to try' style bill allowing investigational treatments for some patients, 4-1
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Summary
The committee approved Senate Bill 933 to let terminally ill or those with life‑altering conditions try investigational treatments not yet FDA-approved, requiring informed consent and that patients bear treatment costs; members asked about eligibility rules and provider participation.
The House Public Health Committee approved Senate Bill 933 on a 4-1 vote after brief questioning about how eligibility and provider participation would work.
Representative Stark, who presented the bill, said it "gives individuals the right to try individualized treatments" and described the measure as language similar to laws adopted in other states. She said the bill targets investigational treatments "that are currently being used in The United States, but not FDA approved," and that patients would need to undergo informed consent and meet requirements regarding treatment costs and outcomes.
Representative Newton asked whether there are qualifications a patient would have to meet. Stark replied that a patient must be terminally ill or have a life‑altering situation and have exhausted treatments "that're not helping you get better." Representative Pug Miller asked which Oklahoma facilities would provide such treatments; Stark said she did not have a list and emphasized that no facility would be required to provide the care.
The bill passed the committee with four members in favor and one opposed. Committee members who asked questions said they wanted follow-up information on which providers or hospitals might offer investigational treatments and the potential scale of any federal or private funding for such care.
The committee recorded SB 933 as passed and the measure will move forward in the legislative process.
