As the session was coming to a close this afternoon, the Missouri House and Senate both passed the "Right to Try" bill and sent the legislation to the governor. As I've written and testified in the past, the law will allow greater flexibility for terminally ill patients. Specifically, it allows these patients to seek medications that the drug companies have developed and the FDA has determined to be safe for humans, but are not yet sold on the market. Assuming the governor does not block it, Missouri is set to become one of the first states in the country to enact such legislation. Following the passage of last year's Volunteer Health Services Act, Missouri is certainly on a roll when it comes to enacting forward-looking and people-empowering health care reforms. Right to Try's passage is a victory for Missourians.

Congratulations to the legislators who made the bill happen, to the Goldwater Institute, which has pioneered the idea, and most importantly, to the patients and families who will benefit from this law's enactment.