Apparently, one’s schedule of death is more of the court’s business than most would believe. On August 7th, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against terminally ill patients’ right to try experimental drugs in an effort to save their own lives.
Judge Thomas B. Griffith said the freedom to use medications not approved by regulatory bodies was not rooted in the traditions and history of the United States, and therefore could not be legally sanctioned. Self-defense clauses in the Bill of Rights “cannot justify creating a constitutional right to assume any level of risk without regard to the scientific and medical judgment expressed through the clinical testing process,” said Griffith.
For states like Texas, this is big news. Chronic diseases like diabetes are on the rise, without a definitive cure in sight. While not officially classified as a terminal illness, diabetes was listed as the sixth leading cause of death in the state; its incidence increased twenty-seven percent in Texas in just five years — from 2000 to 2005. Approximately 1.3 million adults throughout Dallas, Austin, Houston and the rest of the state are currently diagnosed, and potentially fatal complications include cardiovascular disease (the number one killer of Americans), stroke, and hypertension. Amputations, eye disease, and chronic infections also occur.