STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2106

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2181

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2181 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ACCESS TO TREATMENT FOR TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to, beginning January 1, 2017, allow manufacturers of investigational drugs, biological products, or devices to make available such drugs, products, or devices to terminally ill patients under certain conditions.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Association for Justice and two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and Department of the Attorney General.

 

     Your Committee finds that the process of approval for investigational drugs, biological products, and devices in the United States protects future patients from premature, ineffective, and unsafe medications and treatments over the long run, but the process often takes many years.  Patients who have a terminal illness do not have the luxury of waiting until an investigational drug, biological product, or device receives final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

 

     Your Committee further finds that patients who have a terminal illness have a fundamental right to pursue the preservation of their own lives by accessing available investigational drugs, biological products, and devices.  Several states, such as Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, and Missouri, have passed so-called "right-to-try" legislation that makes available experimental drugs without Food and Drug Administration approval to terminally ill patients with no other medication or treatment options.

 

     To assist the Committee on Judiciary and Labor with its deliberation on this measure, your Committee notes the comments and concerns raised by the Department of the Attorney General in its testimony regarding possible inconsistencies between provisions in this measure and federal and state law.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2181, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2181, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

 

 

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair