For AI agents: read the machine-readable documentation index at /llms.txt or the single-file full reference at /llms-full.txt.
Form a Business

RIGHT TO TRY ACT

RSA tit. X, ch. 126-Z
in effect

RSA 126-Z:1 Definitions.

126-Z:1. Definitions. In this chapter: I. "Eligible facility" means a licensed New Hampshire institution that is operating under a Federalwide Assurance ("FWA") for the Protection of Human Subjects under 42 U.S.C. section 289(a) and 45 C.F.R. part 46. Any eligible facility is subject to the FWA laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines including renewals or updates. I-a. "Eligible patient" means a person to whom all of the following apply: (a) The person has been diagnosed with a terminal or qualifying severe illness by the person's physician. (b) The person has already tried or is not a candidate for eligible United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment options for their disease or condition. (c) The person is unable to participate in a clinical trial involving the eligible investigational drug, biologic or device. (d) The person has given written informed consent for the use of the investigational drug, biological product, or device or, if the patient is a minor or lacks the mental capacity to provide informed consent, a parent or legal guardian has given written informed consent on the patient's behalf. (e) The physician providing access to an investigational drug, biologic, or device will not be compensated directly by the manufacturer for providing access to this therapy. I-b. "Health care provider" means a physician licensed to practice medicine in the state of New Hampshire. I-c. "Individualized investigational treatment" means drugs, biologics, or devices unique to and produced exclusively for use for an individual patient, based on their own genetic profile, including but not limited to individualized gene therapy antisense oligonucleotides (ASO), individualized neoantigen vaccines, and any other individualized treatment. II. "Investigational drug, biologic, or device" means a drug, biologic, or device that has successfully completed phase one of a clinical trial, but has not been approved for general use by the FDA and remains under investigation in a clinical trial. II-a. "Other protected access" includes: (a) "Expanded access" whereby the treating physician requests access to an investigational drug, biologic, or device from the FDA and is subject to oversight from an Institutional Review Board; and (b) "Off-label use" means prescribing an FDA approved drug, biologic, or device for a use not approved for that specific indication consistent with RSA 329:17, VI-b. III. "Physician" means the licensed allopathic or osteopathic physician who is providing medical care or treatment to the eligible patient for the terminal or qualifying severe illness. III-a. (a) "Qualifying severe illness" means an illness that is both chronic and debilitating. (b) "Chronic and debilitating" shall have the same meaning as "severely debilitating" defined under 21 C.F.R. section 312.81(b). IV. "Remote signing" means the signing of any form, witnessed by a notary public or a licensed health care provider, providing written informed consent for a person diagnosed by a physician with a terminal or qualifying severe illness to participate in a clinical trial or receive a drug, biologic, or device, by the patient or, if the patient is a minor or lacks the mental capacity to provide consent, by a parent or legal guardian on the patient's behalf. V. "Telehealth prescreening" means any remote, real-time discussion intended, in part, to determine whether a person with a terminal or qualifying severe illness may be: (a) Ineligible for or not selected to participate in a clinical trial; or (b) Ineligible to receive or not be offered a drug, biologic, or device. VI. "Terminal illness" means diseases or conditions where the likelihood of death is high unless the course of the disease is interrupted, and diseases or conditions with potentially fatal outcomes, where the endpoint of a clinical trial analysis is survival, which is the definition of "life threatening" under 21 C.F.R. section 312.81. [RSA 126-Z:1 effective upon certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also RSA 126-Z:1 effective until such approval above.] Source. 2016, 206:2, eff. June 6, 2016. 2024, 124:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2025. 2025, 304:2, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. 2026, 311:14, eff. contingent.

RSA 126-Z:2 Availability of Investigational Drugs, Biologics, or Devices; Costs; Coverage.

126-Z:2. Availability of Investigational Drugs, Biologics, or Devices; Costs; Coverage. I. A manufacturer of an investigational drug, biologic, or device may make available an investigational drug, biologic, or device to eligible patients pursuant to this chapter. A manufacturer may: (a) Provide an investigational drug, biologic, or device to an eligible patient without receiving compensation. (b) Require an eligible patient to pay the costs of or associated with the manufacture of the investigational drug, biologic, or device. (c) Require an eligible patient to participate in data collection relating to the use of the investigational drug, biologic, or device. II. This chapter shall not require a health care insurer or any state agency to provide coverage for the cost of any investigational drug, biologic, or device. III. Nothing in this chapter shall require the manufacturer of an investigational drug, biologic, or device to include an eligible patient in a particular clinical trial or study. IV. Nothing in this chapter shall require a health care provider, health care facility, or the manufacturer of an investigational drug, biological product, or device, to make an experimental treatment available to an eligible patient. Source. 2016, 206:2, eff. June 6, 2016. 2024, 124:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2025. 2025, 304:6, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.

RSA 126-Z:3 Liability of Physician; Facility.

126-Z:3. Liability of Physician; Facility. I. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the board of medicine shall not revoke, fail to renew, or take any other action against a physician's license issued pursuant to RSA 329 based primarily on a physician's recommendation to an eligible patient regarding or prescription for or treatment with an investigational drug, biologic, or device pursuant to this chapter. II. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the department of health and human services shall not take action against a facility licensed under RSA 151 based primarily on the institution's participation in the treatment or use of an investigational drug, biologic, or device under this chapter. III. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a manufacturer of a drug, biologic, or device, a pharmacist, a health care facility, a health care provider, or a person or entity involved in the care of a patient using a drug, biologic, or device is immune from suit for any harm done to a patient resulting from the drug, biologic, or device if: (a) The person has a terminal or qualifying severe illness as determined by the person's physician and a consulting physician; (b) The person's physician has determined that the person has no comparable or satisfactory United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment options available not approved by the FDA to treat the disease or condition involved; (c) The patient has given written informed consent for the use of the drug, biologic, or device or, if the patient is a minor or lacks the mental capacity to provide informed consent, a parent or legal guardian has given written informed consent on the patient's behalf and, if the patient is a legal adult, the consent is not contrary to the prior documented wishes of the patient; (d) The manufacturer, pharmacist, facility, provider, or other person or entity has not engaged in willful or reckless misconduct or other bad faith conduct. "Willful or reckless misconduct" shall include, but is not limited to, any conduct intended to hasten the death of the patient; and (e) If the drug, biologic, or device is an individualized investigational treatment, it is administered by a health care provider at an eligible facility. [RSA 126-Z:3 effective upon certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also RSA 126-Z:3 effective until such approval above.] Source. 2016, 206:2, eff. June 6, 2016. 2024, 124:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2025. 2025, 304:3, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. 2026, 311:15, eff. contingent.

RSA 126-Z:4 Private Cause of Action.

126-Z:4. Private Cause of Action. I. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to create a private cause of action against any person or entity except as specified in paragraph II. [Paragraph II effective until certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also paragraph II set out below.] II. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any patient diagnosed with a terminal illness by a physician, and who has been treated, is being treated, or otherwise could be treated in New Hampshire with a drug, biologic, or device, and is affected by a violation of this chapter, or a health care facility or a health care provider involved in the treatment of the patient, shall be entitled to petition the superior court for injunctive relief and reasonable attorney's fees against any regulatory or law enforcement authority that violates this chapter. II. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any patient diagnosed with a terminal or qualifying severe illness by a physician, and who has been treated, is being treated, or otherwise could be treated in New Hampshire with a drug, biologic, or device, and is affected by a violation of this chapter, or a health care facility or a health care provider involved in the treatment of the patient, shall be entitled to petition the superior court for injunctive relief and reasonable attorney's fees against any regulatory or law enforcement authority that violates this chapter. [Paragraph II effective until certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also paragraph II set out below.] Source. 2016, 206:2, eff. June 6, 2016. 2024, 124:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2025. 2025, 304:4, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. 2026, 311:16, eff. contingent.

RSA 126-Z:5 Severability.

126-Z:5. Severability. If any provision of this chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect the other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable. Source. 2016, 206:2, eff. June 6, 2016. 2024, 124:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2025.

RSA 126-Z:6 Telehealth Prescreening.

126-Z:6. Telehealth Prescreening. [Paragraph I effective until certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also paragraph I set out below.] I. Notwithstanding any regulation or provision of law to the contrary, any health care provider, while physically located in New Hampshire, may conduct a telehealth prescreening with any patient, in any state or jurisdiction, who has been diagnosed by a physician with a terminal illness. [Paragraph I effective upon certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also paragraph I set out above.] I. Notwithstanding any regulation or provision of law to the contrary, any health care provider, while physically located in New Hampshire, may conduct a telehealth prescreening with any patient, in any state or jurisdiction, who has been diagnosed by a physician with a terminal or qualifying severe illness. II. No regulatory or law enforcement agency or subdivision shall take action against a health care facility, a health care provider, or a person or entity involved in the care of a patient for conducting a telehealth prescreening as defined in this chapter and pursuant to paragraph I. III. A health care facility, a health care provider, or a person or entity involved in the care of a patient shall be immune from suit to the extent that the suit is based upon a telehealth prescreening. [Paragraph I effective until certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also paragraph I set out below.] [Paragraph I effective upon certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also paragraph I set out above.] Source. 2025, 304:5, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. 2026, 311:17, eff. contingent.

RSA 126-Z:7 Remote Signing.

126-Z:7. Remote Signing. I. Notwithstanding any regulation or provision of law to the contrary, a manufacturer of a drug, biologic, or device, a pharmacist, a health care facility, a health care provider, or a person or entity involved in the care of a patient using a drug, biologic, or device may obtain consent to treat a patient using remote signing as defined in this chapter, provided that the manufacturer, pharmacist, facility, provider, or other person or entity has an office in the state of New Hampshire and has conducted a telehealth prescreening pursuant to RSA 126-Z:1, IV. The remote signing shall amount to full and effective consent for treatment under all applicable laws and regulations. II. No regulatory or law enforcement agency or subdivision shall take action against a health care facility, a health care provider, or a person or entity involved in the care of a patient for obtaining patient consent through remote signing, as defined in this chapter, if the provider or facility has complied with paragraph I. III. A health care facility, a health care provider, or a person or entity involved in the care of a patient shall be immune from suit to the extent that the suit challenges the validity of a remote signing to effect lawful consent, provided that the person or entity is complying in good faith with the terms of this chapter and has not engaged in willful misconduct. Source. 2025, 304:5, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.

RSA 126-Z:8 Statutory Construction.

126-Z:8. Statutory Construction. The general court enacts this chapter to promote maximum access by removing barriers in state law and indemnifying those involved in providing potentially life-saving or dramatically life-improving treatments and treatments to improve the quality of patients' remaining life, to incentivize health care facilities, health care providers, manufacturers of drugs, biologics and/or devices, and other persons and entities involved in the care of patients, to treat terminal and qualifying severe illness, whether through company-sponsored clinical trial, single-patient protocol, compassionate use protocol, or any other means of access to drugs, biologics, and/or devices which gathers information on patient outcomes, and to make New Hampshire a jurisdiction that attracts and fosters clinical trials and the development of drugs, biologics, and devices intended to treat terminal and qualifying severe illness. This chapter shall be construed consistently with the general court's stated purpose. [RSA 126-Z:8 effective upon certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21; see also RSA 126-Z:8 effective until such approval above.] Source. 2025, 304:5, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. 2026, 311:18, eff. contingent.

RSA 126-Z:9 Rulemaking.

126-Z:9. Rulemaking. The commissioner of the department of health and human services shall adopt, under RSA 541-A, any rules necessary to implement this chapter. [RSA 126-Z:9 effective upon certified approval of a legislative report regarding the amendment of the Right to Try Act pursuant to 2026, 311:21.] Source. 2026, 311:19, eff. contingent.
Source: New Hampshire General Court (gc.nh.gov)URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/NHTOC/NHTOC-X-126-Z.htmFetched: 10/20/2026

Starting a business in New Hampshire? New Hampshire LLC guide: costs and requirements