A right restored

A while back during a video conference with our favorite Dapper Dan, Dr. Bedlack, he commented "you don't seem to mind self-experimentation."  After laughing about that comment, we agreed.  It's not like we going to cut off Pat's head and put it in a strudel pan, but at a certain point when one has this sort of disease, and there is no cure, and no real treatments, you're sort of  willing to try anything. I mean, what's the worse that could happen???

So the news about the possible fast-tracking of the RIGHT TO TRY legislation is something that we can get excited about.   This legislation means that people with terminal illnesses who have pretty short term stale dates can bypass the usual FDA's years long approval process and try drugs that demonstrate potential help.  

I think those of us of a certain age (as the French say) remember those horrendous pictures of the Thalidomide babies in Life magazine, which is why the FDA has such rigorous testing. But for those families battling ALS and other diseases, this might be our only hope.

A couple of years ago, our state legislature approved CBD oil, which is a cannabis derivative.   Pat uses a couple of snorts of that a day and between that and the other supplements he takes, his progression is pretty slow.

Life is a gamble, whether you're floating on a raft trying to escape a country that is in chaos or wanting to experiment with a partially tested drug.  We're grown-ups, we know the risks. We want to try.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_That_Wouldn't_Die