The Legislature of Louisiana hereby finds and declares the following:

            (1) The process of approval for investigational drugs, biological products, and devices in the United States often takes many years.

            (2) A patient who has a terminal illness does not have the luxury of waiting until an investigational drug, biological product, or device receives final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

            (3) The standards of the United States Food and Drug Administration for the use of investigational drugs, biological products, and devices may deny the benefits of potentially life-saving treatments or devices to terminally ill patients.

            (4) A patient with a terminal illness has a fundamental right to attempt to preserve his own life by accessing available investigational drugs, biological products, and devices.

            (5) Whether to use available investigational drugs, biological products, or devices is a decision that rightfully should be made by the patient with a terminal illness in consultation with his physician, and is not a decision to be made by the government.

            Acts 2014, No. 346, §1; Redesignated from La. Rev. Stat. 40:1300.422 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S.; Acts 2017, No. 292, §1.