Photo Credit - CDC
# 8922
The news that two American missionaries infected with the Ebola virus have been treated with an experimental cocktail of monoclonal antibodies has raised concerns over the ethics of using using an untested drug on humans, and over who should have access to a very scarce and expensive drug.
Earlier today, in CDC FAQ On Experimental Ebola Treatments & Vaccine Development, I posted a Q&A from the CDC that clearly distanced itself, the FDA, and the NIH from the decision making regarding the use of this drug.
Responding the the rising chorus of concern, the World Health Organization has sent a press release to journalists announcing they will convene a special panel of medical ethicists next week to discuss the issues.
6 August 2014
WHO Statement WHO/10WHO to convene ethical review of experimental treatment for Ebola
GENEVA ¦ 6 August 2014 – Early next week, the World Health Organization (WHO) will convene a panel of medical ethicists to explore the use of experimental treatment in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Currently there is no registered medicine or vaccine against the virus, but there are several experimental options under development.
The recent treatment of two health workers from Samaritan’s Purse with experimental medicine has raised questions about whether medicine that has never been tested and shown to be safe in people should be used in the outbreak and, given the extremely limited amount of medicine available, if it is used, who should receive it.
“We are in an unusual situation in this outbreak. We have a disease with a high fatality rate without any proven treatment or vaccine,” says Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General at the World Health Organization. "We need to ask the medical ethicists to give us guidance on what the responsible thing to do is.”
The gold standard for assessing new medicine involves a series of trials in humans, starting small to make sure the medicine is safe to use. Then, the studies are expanded to more people to see how effective it is, and how best to use it.
The guiding principal with use of any new medicine is ‘do no harm’. Safety is always the main concern.
