The “Right to Try” Act: In Principle and Practice

Does it cover the right of dying people to try psychedelics?

Between 2014 and 2017, more than 40 states passed Right to Try laws. They aimed to give patients with life-threatening illnesses access to investigational drugs that had passed Phase I clinical trials but were not yet fully FDA-approved.

In 2018, President Trump signed the federal Right to Try Act into law. The legislation had bipartisan support and sought to create a uniform, national standard.

When my clients want to explore psychedelics but live where they are illegal, options are limited. They travel to where psychedelics and plant medicine are decriminalized. Or they go underground.

Sometimes they ask me about the Right to Try Act. So I thought I’d write about this legislation and how it works both in principle and practice.

Legal Framework

The eligibility requirements for Right to Try state that patients must have a life-threatening condition, have exhausted all approved treatment options, and cannot participate in clinical trials. Access is only allowed for investigational drugs tha…