GESTIÓN EN SALUD PÚBLICA: BioEdge: Catastrophic result in clinical trial in France

sábado, 16 de enero de 2016

BioEdge: Catastrophic result in clinical trial in France

Catastrophic result in clinical trial in France

by Xavier Symons | 17 Jan 2016 |

One man has been pronounced brain dead and another six are in a critical condition after a stage-one pain-relief drug trial was carried out in France.

The men were among 90 participants in the trial of an endocannabinoid inhibitor produced by the Portuguese pharmaceutical firm Bial.

The drug, a so-called FAAH inhibitor, was intended to reduce pain in the patients. The affected patients, however, have experienced serious adverse side effects and some face permanent handicaps.

The brain dead patient was admitted hospital in Rennes on Monday. Other patients went in on Wednesday and Thursday. The trial, which has only been running for a week, was cancelled after the incidents were reported. All patients taking part in the trial have been called back for medical examination.

French officials expressed their concern about the incident, but argued that the trial was carried out in accord with existing regulations.

In 2006 a leukaemia drug trial in the UK at Northwick Park Hospital resulted in the hospitalisation of six men, some of whom now have permanent disabilities.

Dr Ben Whalley, a neuropharmacology professor at Britain’s University of Reading, said standardised regulations for clinical trials were “largely the same” throughout Europe. “However, like any safeguard, these minimise risk rather than abolish it,” Whalley said. “There is an inherent risk in exposing people to any new compound.”

Dr Anna Smajdor, lecturer and researcher in biomedical ethics, University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School, is awaiting more information:

“Phase one trials often involve young participants who take part in return for payment. The nature of clinical research means that every so often, people will be seriously harmed or even killed in the process of research, there is no way round this.

“The question in this case is whether, as in Northwick Park, there were any failures of protocol that meant participants suffered more damage than necessary – in Northwick Park, they administered the drug to all volunteers at once instead of staggering it so they could avoid a bad reaction affecting all of the participants.”

- See more at: http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/catastrophic-result-in-clinical-trial-in-france/11718#sthash.1gLVorB9.dpuf

In his State of the Union address President Obama announced a cancer moonshot: an ambitious plan to cure cancer. "The same kind of concentrated effort that split the atom and took man to the moon should be turned toward conquering this dread disease," he said.

Oops. He didn’t say that. Richard Nixon did in his 1971 State of the Union address. “We want to be the first generation that finally wins the war on cancer,” then-Vice President Al Gore said in 1998. “For the first time, the enemy is outmatched.”

It’s not just the politicians who know how to cure cancer. Scientists make big promises as well. In 2005 the Director at the National Cancer Institute, Andrew von Eschenbach, said “Our plan is to eliminate the suffering and death that result from this process that we understand as cancer, and we are committed to a goal of doing so as early as 2015.”

That commitment was made only ten years ago and cancer is still the second leading cause of death in the United States.

It’s great to feel optimistic, but one has the feeling that promises like these are made to distract voters from other issues. “It’s a bit utopian at this point,” agreed Barrie Bode, a professor at Northern Illinois University and a 20-year cancer researcher, told MarketWatch. “It’s like saying we need to fix the economy once and for all. Right, like that’s going to happen,” he said.

However, if you are looking for a job in cancer research, now looks like a very good time.