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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A new law titled the “Individualized Investigational Treatment Act” went into effect on July 1st of this year.
Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson-District 11), a physical therapist at Parkridge Medical Center in Chattanooga, authored the legislation and brought it to the Tennessee General Assembly earlier this year.
The state senator is calling this new law the “Right to Try 2.0” law in his efforts to promote it.
SB 282/HB 192 gives patients with terminal or debilitating illnesses and their physicians the ability to legally seek therapies unapproved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that are specifically designed for their individual set of DNA, once all FDA-approved options have failed to offer adequate success for the patient.
The legislation passed the state Senate as amended with a 28-1 vote on March 6th of this year. It received an 85-5 vote in the House of Representatives that same day.
Republicans Representatives Jody Barrett, Monty Fritts, Michele Reneau, Democrat Representatives Vincent Dixie and Gloria Johnson, and Democrat Senator Heidi Campbell voted against SB 282/HB 192.
Democrat Senator London Lamar and Democrat Representatives Bob Freeman, Harold Love and Gabby Salinas marked themselves as “present and not voting.”
The legislation was signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) on March 20th, 2025.
Proponents of this new law say that it puts Tennessee “at the forefront of healthcare innovation” by giving patients more options and allowing for new advances to be made in medical research as a result.
According to News 12, Sen. Watson says that the law “underscores Tennessee’s commitment to advancing medical innovation while keeping patients and their physicians at the center of decision-making.”
“With artificial intelligence, drugs are now going to become very specific to your physiology,” Sen. Watson stated. “There will be treatments centered around genetics and biologics—how your system reacts to a drug. AI allows us to experiment more quickly, and in order to give patients the best options, we need laws that allow them to make informed consent about those options.”
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
It would be great if this bill included Medical Marijuana. So many people suffering, especially the elderly, that could benefit from it. It seems everything to do with health is always catering to Big Pharma, and we know that pharmaceuticals cause a lot of problems that medical marijuana does not, like addition and always adding more pharmaceutical drugs to combat the side effects of the first prescribed drug.
70% of Tennesseans voted for Medical Marijuana, yet we are still denied, it’s time.
While God’s natural remedies are still illegal in TN.