Petition To give people with terminal illnesses the right to try drugs in the early stages of development

We call on the Government to support the right for people with rare, life threatening serious conditions for which there is no satisfactory treatment available to have earlier and improved access to new and existing drugs. Specifically we call on the Government to provide patients with life-threatening illnesses the legal right to choose to try drugs at an earlier stage in the development process - when there is scientific evidence for safety and efficacy but before the very lengthy late stage trials currently required.

This could be done by:

• Giving patients access to medicine during development stages, if the risk of “doing nothing” outweighs the risk of negative side effects
• Giving patients the right to access drugs licensed for any condition other than their own
• Making it possible for patients to give legally binding indemnities when agreeing to take drugs under these conditions.