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Today's Poll: Should terminally ill patients be allowed to try experimental drugs not fully approved yet by FDA?

By Howard B. Owens
Ed Hartgrove

WOW! This has to be the most lopsided poll results I've ever seen. At this point in time (10:50 AM, Feb. 1st) the results are: Yes 231 ● No 5

At first, I thought the votometer must be broke. Then I noticed that, no, it was working just fine.

When I saw the 5 "no" votes, I wondered, "Why would anyone vote that way?" At first, I thought, maybe they thought the terminally ill patients weren't mentally capable of making a decision for themselves.

Then I noticed the provided link read: Reason Magazine: Trump Promotes 'Right to Try' Experimental Treatments for Terminally Ill Patients in SOTU Address

That's when it dawned on me. Perhaps people voted "No" because President Trump was "for" it. I remember hearing news commentators say that the anti-Trump people are so vehement in their "hatred?" of him that it wouldn't matter if he came up with a cure for cancer. They'd still be against anything he did. Nothing surprises me anymore.

Feb 1, 2018, 11:18am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

I suppose if you're the sort of person who believes every aspect of our lives should be regulated and that federal agencies like the FDA are an unalloyed good you might vote no because you believe nobody should be able to do anything without government approval.

Also, there are always people who go against the crowd.

I'm a bit surprised that more aren't opposed to it just for those reasons.

It's kind of refreshing that in this age of hyper-partisanship, just about all of us can agree on this one thing. Maybe it's a bridge to build on?

Feb 1, 2018, 3:36pm Permalink

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