Other Pionerrs?

[zar]

Doctors hope to speed up the approval time
Cancer drugs which have not been tested on humans are to be given to terminally ill patients by the NHS.
St Bartholomew's Hospital in London will be the first to administer the drugs, followed by 18 other centres.

Doctors say patients will only be given the drugs if they have no other hope of recovery, and they will only get small doses of medication to start with.

The Department of Health approved the move in a bid to halve the amount of time it takes to develop new drugs.


With drug approval currently taking on average 10 years, doctors want to speed up the process.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7309016.stm

 

[barbara]

Zar - I am in complete agreement with this policy. It really doesn't apply to stem cell therapy unless that is now being considered a drug, but nonetheless, I agree with it. Who better to test something quickly than someone who is terminally ill and agreeable to trying it? I don't agree that small doses should be given unless that will be the protocol for the drug if it is approved. What is the point in that? I understand the theory, but if I agreed to try the drug and was in a do or die situation, I would want the full amount administered.