Research Library

Do “Right to Try” laws grant patients access to experimental drugs?

State "right to try" laws can give terminally ill patients early access to experimental drugs and medical devices — but they arguably make safety and efficacy secondary to speedy access.

High cancer drug prices reduce access to therapy, cause treatment abandonment and financial bankruptcies, as well as severe emotional and family distress.

Is the U.S. better off linking its money supply to a global commodity market or allowing an independent central bank to respond to economic conditions?

The 340B Drug Pricing Program, which allows uninsured or low-income patients to buy prescription drugs at discounted prices, is under attack.

Officials in the U.S. and Mexico should coordinate a response to the spread of Chagas disease in their countries. Chagas is the third most common parasitic infection in the world.

Though drops in oil prices stand to impact Saudi Arabia’s economic stability, the government has turned to drawing down its foreign reserves and issuing bonds to alleviate budgetary pressures and avoid drastic domestic spending cuts. Fellow for the Middle East Kristian Coates Ulrichsen writes in the Baker Institute Blog: http://bit.ly/1fKLWG9.

While the Food and Drug Administration currently regulates storage and use of cord blood (CB) in the United States, other state and federal guidelines on CB education, awareness and ethical considerations remain variable, and no mandatory international guidelines exist. To help organize and coordinate efforts across the United States and other nations, policymakers should implement regulations for high quality standards for both private and public CB banks.

This report describes the problems associated with unproven stem cell treatments, focusing on those without FDA approval undertaken by NFL players in the past five years.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) affects over 80 million Americans, causing more than 40,000 cases of HPV-associated cancers in the U.S. In 2006, the FDA licensed the first HPV vaccine, which could help save thousands of lives; no cure for HPV currently exists. However, the political controversy raised by the vaccine has limited its acceptance and use. Such resistance potentially jeopardizes an opportunity to reduce cancer rates in Texas and the broader United States.