Not without OUR Permission

A U.S. appeals court ruled that terminally ill patients do not have the right to experimental drugs (i.e., drugs that are not approved by the government).

A basic fundamental principle of liberty is the self-determination, that is, the right of a person to determine his own destiny. In particular, the principle allows a person to choose its own political status and to determine his own form of economic, cultural and social development. It is the principle that also allows a man to determine the status of his own health and recognizes the dominion one has over his own body.

So, according to the U.S. appeals court, man does not have the right to choose an experimental drug when he is ill. How would you like to be on your death bed, suffering from some terminal illness, knowing that the government that you supported throughout your working life was willing to use force to prevent you from gaining access to a drug, though experimental, that might actually prolong your life while doing absolutely no harm whatsoever to someone else?

You might have one year, maybe six months, to draw breath. You know that it will be about 10 years for the experimental drug that might help you to become approved. You're going to die sooner than you otherwise would because of a GOVERNMENT REGULATORY AGENCY.

The lawsuit was brought by The Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs and the Washington Legal Foundation. The claim was that patients should at least have "more access" to experimental drugs.

The government (FDA) is thrilled with the ruling because it gets to keep control over access to treatments that only it deems appropriate. Government and control; what a wonderful combination.

Yes, there was a dissent. One judge that didn't go along with the majority opinion said: "There is no logic to be found ... in the conclusion that the right to save one's life is unprotected" by the Constitution.

"Give me liberty or give me death." are the famous words uttered by Thomas Paine. Our government, by this ruling and by their inability to be humane and flexible are indeed sentencing sick people to die, instead of letting them seek unapproved treatments. What a shame.