This year, California adopted the ‘right-to-try’ law, which lets terminally ill patients access experimental therapies that haven’t been fully approved by the FDA - we debate the pros and cons. We also cover day two of Judge Neil Gorsuch's confirmation hearings; the impact of video games on male adolescent careers; and more.
Dueling law professors analyze the Neil Gorsuch confirmation hearing
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is facing the Senate Judiciary Committee for an initial round of questioning that is expected to last at least 10 hours today.
His confirmation hearing is revealing the great partisan divide encompassing so many issues. So far, he's been asked about overturning high court precedents, his judicial philosophy and the limits of presidential power. He has held back from commenting on how he would rule on issues like abortion, gun control and President Trump’s executive order on immigration. He was also asked about his opinion of Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy opened upon Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. Judge Gorsuch praised Garland for his work as a jurist, but wouldn’t comment on the partisan fight surrounding his confirmation, or lack thereof.
In his answers, Judge Gorsuch has tried to portray himself as a man who unflinchingly follows the rule of law regardless of political pressure or the parties involved in the case, and said he’s made no promises to anyone in the White House or Congress about how he’d rule on a certain case.
Guests:
John McGinnis, the George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law at Northwestern
Margaret Russell, constitutional law professor at Santa Clara University
The ethics of ‘Right-to-try’ in California – exploitation or hope?
In 2017, California became one of 33 U.S. states to adopt a popular yet highly contested ‘right-to-try’ law.
Right-to-try was created to allow terminally ill patients to try to access experimental therapies that haven’t been fully approved by the FDA. With the backing of two physicians, a terminal patient in California can ask a company for a drug or device that has completed only the first phase of the FDA’s testing.
The FDA already has an expanded access program that gives patients access to experimental drugs, though critics say the process is too lengthy and cumbersome. Proponents of right-to-try see it as a matter of civil liberty, a personal decision to be made by a dying patient seeking a modicum of hope, for themselves, or barring that, for posterity, who might learn from their experience.
But various bioethicists and the former FDA commissioner have opposed the legislation. Criticisms of right-to-try are that it could cause patients to lose access to health insurance or hospice, could allow companies to exploit patients, could expose patients to drugs that worsen their already deteriorated condition and that the law unfairly demonizes the FDA when pharma companies are the real problem.
Meanwhile, right-to-try is gaining popularity. Mike Pence, who signed a right-to-try bill in Indiana in 2015, has said he would support a federal version of the legislation, and Trump has also signaled support. Host Larry Mantle talks to two patient advocates about their opposing views on right-to-try, and the ethics and realities behind the legislation.
Do you have personal experience with right-to-try or the FDA’s expanded access program? Does right-to-try provide hope or does it allow for the exploitation of vulnerable people?
Guests:
Lina Clark, co-founder and board member of Hope Now for ALS, which works with government and industry to find a cure for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Andrew McFadyen, executive director of the Isaac Foundation, which supports and advocates for patients and families with Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) diseases
Analyzing GOP’s revised ACA replacement bill’s chance of gaining passage
Late Monday night, House Republicans unveiled a revised ACA replacement bill in the hope of swaying skeptical moderate and conservative Republicans.
Under the revised version, states have more latitude to decide who gets Medicaid, as well as provide help to older people who could see their premiums skyrocket under the original GOP bill.
President Trump met today with House Republicans on the bill today. The House vote is slated for Thursday.
Guest:
Lisa Mascaro, congressional reporter for the LA Times, where she’s been following the story
How video games may be affecting young men's path to the job market
Playing video games is a more mainstream hobby than it's ever been before. But while more and more people mark themselves as gamers, one the medium's largest demographics remains adolescent men.
As video games continue to get more complex and intricate, they continue to capture the attention of the work-age, young men demographic. These same people are also faced with realities of life that aren't easy, including a difficult job market. That's why many are dropping out of the job market all together. According to a recent piece in The Economist by Ryan Avent, the reason for the drop off could be because they're more attracted to the alternate reality of video games as a means to escape their real-life problems.
How does someone indulge their hobbies without letting them take over their obligations to be a functioning member of society?
Do video games, which usually involve goals and set tasks to complete those goals, create an unrealistic expectation for how life is supposed to work?
Guest:
Douglas Gentile, Ph.D., professor of developmental psychology at Iowa State University
Intersex author Hida Viloria embraces being ‘born both’
Being intersex is about as common as being born with red hair.
But it might not feel like it, because when you’re intersex, you’re biologically both - or neither - male and female.
This is different from gender identity and sexual orientation. An intersex person can be straight or LGBTQ, and often wrestles between two cisgender worlds laced with discrimination and misinformation.
Hida Viloria was chromosomally born as an XX female but with physical traits identifying more as male. It wasn’t until age 27 that Viloria discovered s/he (pronounced “she”) was intersex, and has since become an outspoken activist and educator on the intersex life.
Host Larry Mantle speaks with Viloria about her new book “Born Both: An Intersex Life.”
Guest:
Hida Viloria, intersex activist, writer and author of “Born Both: An Intersex Life” (Hachette Books, 2017); s/he tweets