Art Caplan has a new opinion piece up at MSNBC on the #SaveJosh social campaign that is seeking to get a young cancer patient access to an experimental drug under compassionate use policies. From the article:
If Josh were 67 instead of 7, he would already be out of luck. Those who are not very cute get less attention in their pursuit of unproven drugs. If Josh had parents who did not understand how to use social media, he would already be out of luck. If Josh did not have sharp, well-connected doctors, he would already be out of luck. But he is not in any of these categories, so he may yet get the drug.
All of which is to say, this is no way to handle requests from desperate patients, parents or families to try to save themselves or their loved ones from imminent death by giving them access to unproven, experimental drugs. We need an equitable compassionate use policy for everyone in this country.
Read the full article.