SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014
FORT COLLINS COLORADOAN
Colorado
EVANS Flooded mobile home parks being cleared
Right-to-try bill set to expand use of experimental drugs DENVER — Frustrated by federal
delays getting experimental medications to terminally ill patients, some states are forging so-called “Right To Try” legislation to allow access to the drugs without federal approval. Colorado is poised to become the first state to enact the proposal when Gov. John Joann Ginal Hickenlooper signs it into law Saturday in Fort Collins. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins, passed unanimously through the Colorado Legislature after emotional testimony from relatives who told harrowing stories of seeking federal permission in vain to access experimental drugs. “When you’re terminal and there’s a drug out there that might help you, it can seem that the obstacles to get that drug are insurmountable,” said Sen. Irene Agui-
lar, a physician who co-sponsored Colorado’s bill. Aguilar dubbed the measure the “Dallas Buyers Club” bill, after the 2013 movie about a determined AIDS patient who smuggled treatments from Mexico because they weren’t cleared for use in the United States. “Right To Try” bills await governors’ signatures in Louisiana and Missouri, and Arizona voters will decide in November whether to set up a similar program in that state. The legislation clears the way for drug companies to provide experimental medications to patients outside of clinical trials. But drugmakers would not be required to do so. Colorado’s bill got a careful nocomment from doctors’ groups, hospitals and health insurers. The bill was amended to clarify that health-care providers and insurers aren’t liable for any adverse effects in a patient who gets access to a drug outside clinical trials and then gets sick or dies. Patients and relatives who support “Right To Try” laws insist they’re willing to accept any
amount of risk to gain access to experimental drugs. Among them is Keith Knapp of Sacramento, California, whose wife, Mikaela Knapp, died last month of a rare form of kidney cancer. The Knapps tried in vain to access investigational drugs through existing “compassionate use” guidelines, which require permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “You just get caught in the bureaucracy of it all,” Keith Knapp said Friday. But critics of “Right to Try” abound. Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist and editor of the blog Science Based Medicine, insists “Right To Try” proposals are simply feel-good measures that won’t help many patients. “These proposals are built on this fantasy that there are all these patients out there that are going to be saved if they could just get access to the medicine,” Gorski said. “In reality, the patients that might be helped are very few, while the number of patients who could be hurt by something like this are many.”
AURORA — The wife of Aurora’s fire
chief could face a felony charge for a hit-and-run crash that injured two children in another car, police said. Adriene Garcia rear ended a sedan stopped at a red light Wednesday night and left the scene, Aurora police said. Her Nissan Pathfinder was found about 20 minutes later. The two children, who weren’t wearing seatbelts inside a Hyundai sedan, were taken to the hospital. Police said one of them suffered a serious injury but is expected to recover. Garcia’s attorney, Danny Foster, said she managed to drive the vehi-
WHY BUY GHENT?
cle more than a mile before it stalled. She then called her husband, who in turn called 911. “They’re fully cooperating with the investigation,” Foster said. He said Garcia suffered a brain injury several years ago and the family is investigating whether that contributed to the accident. “We’re not quite sure why she was not cognizant of the accident,” Foster said, adding that Garcia is no longer driving pending the investigation. “She has a lot of processing issues. This is not the type of person who would flee the scene and leave her responsibilities at the door.” Police said they expect to recommend a felony careless driving
charge against Garcia. They were also investigating whether to charge the driver of the Hyundai, whom they did not identify, for failing to restrain his children. The Denver area has been plagued by a string of serious hitand-runs in recent years. KUSA-TV reported that 132 people have died in Colorado as a result of hit-andruns since 2008, at least 11 in 2014 alone. Among the more alarming cases was that of a Denver man who drove his friend’s Saab into a crowded bus stop last year. Two young boys were also killed in Denver last year while crossing the street with their mother, a case that remains unsolved.
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The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says DNA test results are inconclusive in efforts to track down the person who left tainted meatballs in a Boulder County Park. Authorities say a chemical that sickened at least three dogs in Gunbarrel is commonly used in pesticides and rodent poisons. Boulder County Animal Control Officers say at least eight meatballs were left in a grassy area of the park. A $4,600 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible.
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By The Associated Press
At least one person has been injured after an SUV crashed into a Jefferson County school bus near Conifer. Colorado State Patrol spokesman Josh Lewis says the collision happened Friday afternoon just outside Elk Creek Elementary School in western Jefferson County. The driver of the SUV was injured. There were 12 students and the driver on the bus. No one on the bus appeared to be hurt. The name of the school the students attend was not available.
GUNBARREL No suspects found in tainted meatballs case
Fire chief’s wife accused in hit-and-run
Year 141 ~ No. 24
Eric Larsen, Senior Editor for Content EricLarsen@coloradoan.com (970) 224-7745
CONIFER At least 1 injured in school bus accident
CollegeAve
By Kristen Wyatt Associated Press
Two mobile home parks in Evans that were devastated by September’s flood are being cleared. Health officials in February warned that trash, old food, and household cleaning products left behind in the flood debris would cause problems once the weather warmed. But before the cleanup could start,park owners had to figure out how to pay for the work and how they could legally remove the damaged trailers that were owned by their tenants. County health department director Mark Wallace says the owner of the Bella Vista park has removed a “significant” amount of debris. The owner of Eastwood Village has arranged to give away some damaged trailers. It may not be cleared for another two months.
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