By John “CZ” Czwartacki, Executive Director of the Informed Patients Project

Every Fourth of July, we celebrate the freedoms that define this country: free speech, a free press, and the right to live on our own terms. That freedom extends to every decision Americans make, including their health.

Patients make choices about their care every day. That freedom depends on access to information about the choices that define their life – basic necessities like food and medical treatments. I began the Informed Patients Project to ensure that Americans are able to make informed decisions without regulators in Washington acting as gatekeepers.

I know firsthand how much is at stake.

I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis for over 30 years, and my most important medical decisions didn’t happen in a vacuum. They happened in conversation with my doctors, and more than once, that conversation started with access to information that led me to ask the right questions. That’s how it should work: an informed patient and a trusted doctor, deciding together.

Informed patients ask better questions, weigh their options, and advocate for the care that’s right for them. Free flowing  health information introduces people to options they might not know exist, especially for complex or chronic conditions. Restricting information doesn’t protect patients; it leaves us in the dark and starves our decision-making ability by withholding vital information.

That freedom also helps American families know what’s actually in the food and drinks they buy without having to guess at confusing labels and hidden ingredients. Patients facing life-threatening illness deserve a real Right to Try — a choice to extend their lives even with an experimental drug when other options run out. And as more of our lives move online, the intelligent platforms that serve us should be required to put American patients’ first and not the financial interests of a faraway corporation.

For 250 years, we have built this republic on the belief that people, with comprehensive information and acting for their own good, make excellent choices for themselves and those they love. The Informed Patients Project exists because patients deserve to be trusted to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, and that fundamentally, “informed patients are healthier patients.” 

This Independence Day, one of the most patriotic things policymakers can do is protect the free flow of health information about the food we eat, the medicines we take, and the science behind our decisions. The freedom to weigh our options, talk with our doctors, and decide what’s right is what American freedom promises.

I believe that informed patients are healthier patients – and that a healthier America is also a freer one.