JAMA Commentary Examines Terminally Ill Patients’ Access to Experimental Drugs

"Access to Experimental Drugs for Terminally Ill Patients," Journal of the American Medical Association: In the commentary, Benjamin Falit and Cary Gross of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program and Yale University's Section of General Internal Medicine discuss how Congress and FDA "have attempted for decades to strike a proper balance between" terminally ill patients' access to experimental treatments and oversight. They write, "Given terminally ill patients' enormous interest in rapidly obtaining investigational drugs that offer even minute chances of improved longevity or an increased quality of life, it is imperative that society create a system of access that is fair and efficient and balances the interests of patients, manufacturers and society" (Falit/Gross, JAMA, 12/17).