Illinois Becomes 23rd State With 'Right To Try' Legislation

(CBS) -- Illinois is now the 23rd state in the nation to have what is called 'Right to Try' legislation.

House Bill 1335 which was signed by Governor Bruce Rauner, will soon give patients in Illinois the ability to try experimental drugs that may not have gone through clinical trials by the FDA, but have been tried elsewhere.

State Senator Michael Connelly (R-Wheaton) is the bill's sponsor.

"I saw the 'Dallas Buyers Club' movie late last year right around the same time of the ALS bucket challenge," he says.

Connelly says after doing research, he found an organization out of Arizona that has been working on this type of legislation.

He says it will now give terminally ill patients that chance to seek various forms of treatment instead of waiting up to eight years for new medications to become available on the market.