CALIFORNIA—California has edjoin a list of other states allowing experimental drugs to its patients. Reason.com reports, drugs tested for phase I by the FDA are now available to terminally ill patients. Phase I testing renders drugs “safe” to use by the Food and Drug Administration.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed the law into effect after vetoing similar legislation in the previous year. The statute has been implemented in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. For the state of California, the bill has additional requirements where the patient must have only a few months left to live and the permission of at least two doctors to qualify to use the experimental drugs.

The nation-wide cause to improve access to potentially life-saving medicines is championed by the Gold Water Institute. The Institute reports that every year an overwhelming number of people suffering from life threatening diseases seeking investigative medicines.