The FDA has become infamous for its corporate protectionism and interference with allowing new treatments in the marketplace, but an Arizona ballot proposition could spell the beginning of the end for the dominating bureaucracy.
The Tenth Amendment Center urges Arizona residents vote YES on Prop. 303 and nullify FDA control over treatment of terminally ill patients.
If successful, Prop. 303, known as the Arizona Terminal Patients’ Right to Try Referendum, would allow terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs and products that have not received a federal rubber-stamp. This means that the FDA’s rules would be partially nullified in the state. The measure will ultimately be decided by the voters on Nov. 4.
Prop. 303 made it on the ballot through House Concurrent Resolution 2005 (HCR2005). The Arizona state House and Senate passed the resolution earlier this year. HCR2005 states that “a manufacturer of an investigational drug, biological product or device may make available the manufacturer’s investigational drug, biological product or device to eligible patients.”
Additional text in the resolution shields doctors from being reprimanded for prescribing experimental procedures to qualifying patients, and makes it a Class 1 Misdemeanor for state officials who refuse to comply with this law. HCR2005 will become legally binding in Arizona if Prop. 303 is passed this winter.
These developments in Arizona are reminiscent of the early days of the medical marijuana movement. When federal bureaucrats failed to reverse its policies and admit the medicinal effects of cannabis, California took matters into its own hands. Medical marijuana was first authorized for the seriously ill in the Golden State. When the public saw evidence of its effectiveness, its application was expanded from there. Now, 23 states allow for the use of medical marijuana despite federal prohibition.
If Prop. 303 is successful, Arizona will join Colorado and Louisiana, states that passed similar laws this year.
We see a new trend is developing – legislators and activists utilizing nullification to solve societal problems rather than waiting on Washington D.C. to fix things. This measure may well create a ripple effect leading to more local and state control on not just health care, but also many other important issues as well.
Prop. 303 will read as follows on the Arizona ballot for the Nov. 4 vote:
Use Of Investigational Drugs, Biological Products And Devices
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ENACTING AND ORDERING THE SUBMISSION TO THE PEOPLE OF A MEASURE RELATING TO THE USE OF INVESTIGATIONAL DRUGS, BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS AND DEVICES
