HB 1735: A Setback for Right to Try in New Hampshire
After several weeks of negotiations and efforts to rescue HB 1735 — championed from the start by prime sponsor Rep. Brian Cole — the Senate brought the bill to a final vote on Thursday, June 4 and passed it with an amendment that rendered it essentially meaningless. Following the Senate’s vote in May to table the bill outright, the House worked hard to find a path forward. The Senate’s response was to pass an amended version that, while it does not damage existing Right to Try law, strips out every meaningful expansion that HB 1735 was designed to achieve. The House then voted to accede to the bill as amended, bringing this chapter to a close.
We are disappointed in the Senate’s unwillingness to go to bat for patients — people with severe and irreversible conditions who are out of options and simply asking for the right to try. The House fought for them. Governor Ayotte has been a steadfast champion for them. We are grateful to both for their commitment to expanding patient freedom in New Hampshire.
We want to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude to the representatives who gave so much to this bill. Thank you to prime sponsors Rep. Sherm Packard, Rep. Lisa Mazur, Rep. Brian Cole, and Rep. Steven Kesselring — each of whom invested real time, energy, and conviction in the effort to expand Right to Try protections for New Hampshire patients. Their work was not in vain, and we will be carrying it forward.
We believe New Hampshire patients deserved more, and we intend to keep working until they have it. The case for Right to Try only grows stronger with time — and so does the case for New Hampshire as a destination for patients seeking treatments that are not yet available through conventional channels. New Hampshire has the proximity to Boston’s world-class medical and biotech corridor, the regulatory environment, and the political will — in at least two of its three branches — to become a Right to Try hub for the region. That potential does not disappear because of one legislative session. We will be back.
