In an unbelievable decision to anyone faced with a terminal illness, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that terminally ill patients may be denied access to potentially lifesaving drugs.

In an 8-2 ruling, the court decided that it’s unacceptable to risk speeding up the deaths of terminally ill patients by using experimental drugs without proven benefits.

But shouldn’t someone facing a certain death have the right to try anything to save himself (as long as it doesn’t harm others)?

True, these patients may die faster by taking experimental drugs. But they may also be helped.

It’s Their Risk To Take

Or at least it should be.

You have to wonder what the court is thinking here. Are they really trying to protect the terminally ill?

I can’t understand how prolonging someone’s death helps him if you’re denying that patient a chance, however slim, at life.

So I don’t believe that this court decision is really aimed at protecting the terminally ill.

Then why would they make this ruling?

Perhaps to protect a larger population of healthier patients.

These healthier patients might never get access to drugs that could benefit them if the drugs make terminally ill patients die.

Drug Companies Also Benefit From This Decision

A lot of research and development money could be lost if the terminally ill have bad outcomes. They could shut down the clinical trials of new drugs before they’ve been fully investigated on a larger population of patients.

Still, it’s hard – and seemingly hardhearted – to argue that terminally ill patients don’t have the right to take any risk to save their lives.

I think one possible solution is to legally separate the data from clinical trials for FDA approval from the data on drug usage by terminally ill patients.

That way, the effects on the terminally ill won’t stop beneficial drugs from reaching healthier patients who may have better outcomes.

Of course, there may be a public relations problem with continuing to investigate drugs that have harmed terminally ill patients.

But we wouldn’t have that information anyway under the current rules.

So patients in traditional clinical trials are not protected from harm by this court decision.

The only people who stand to lose are the terminally ill who have lost already.

Why not give them a chance at life?