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self defense and right to medical treatment

Gene Volokh has an interesting discussion of self-defense and the right to experimental medical treatment.

FDA approval of a new drug involves (a) determining that it is safe and (b) then determining whether it works. His point relates to the second step. If a person is terminally ill, shouldn't they have a right to choose any treatment declared safe, even if the effectiveness has not yet been proven? If, as is likely (testing takes years) they die before effectiveness is proven, it's rather a moot point. At most, the government is "protecting" them from trying to save their life, because there is still a chance that they'd have wasted money on an ineffective drug.