'Right To Try' Bill Permits Dying Patients To Use Experimental Treatments
ST. PAUL (WCCO) -- The Minnesota House on Friday unanimously passed and sent to Gov. Mark Dayton a bill giving terminally ill patients one last chance.
The bill, called "Right to Try," allows patients to try medications and surgical procedures that are getting clinical trials in the U.S., but are not yet approved by the FDA.
Minnesota State Representative Nick Zerwas is a two-term Republican from Elk River. For him, this legislation is quite personal.
"I've had 10 open heart surgeries, total," Rep. Zerwas said.
Five of those childhood heart surgeries were experimental -- the last one left him with paralyzed vocal cords.
"I thought at the time: I can learn to live with that," he said.
Zerwas was born with a three-chambered heart, instead of four, and was not expected to live until one surgeon tried a new heart procedure when Zerwas was 7 that was not yet approved by the FDA.
"I was the second person in Minnesota to have what's called the Fontan Procedure done in 1987. I was the first person to survive that surgery," Zerwas said.
But Zerwas' heart continued to fail, and at age 15, he planned his funeral. He decided to have one last surgery, adapted from South America, not approved in the U.S.
"And they would have said 'No, he's got to die. That surgery isn't ready yet,'" Zerwas said. "Well, I think that's the wrong answer."
On Friday, the boy who spent much of his early years in hospital rooms stood on the floor of the Minnesota House. He's the author of a bill giving terminally ill patients the "right to try" experimental surgery.
"It's the idea that somebody who has a terminal diagnosis ought to get a last shot," he said.
With his parents watching, the House passed the bill unanimously, and it was one more good day for the kid who got another chance.
"I woke up today, and I'm going to have fun. I'm going to have a ball all day long," Zerwas said.
Right to Try is now legal in 15 states. Governor Mark Dayton said Friday he will sign the bill for Minnesota when it reaches his desk.
