Access to Experimental Drugs in Terminal Illness Ethical Issues

In this extension of his doctoral research, Schuklenk (U. of Central Lancashire Centre for Professional Ethics; Preston, UK) addresses concerns shared with AIDS activists. He weighs the relevance of Kantian moral philosophy, weak and strong paternalistic arguments regarding access to experimental drugs by the terminally ill, whether access should be restricted to promote clinical trials, the role of the US Food and Drug Administration, costs, and other practical problems; and advocates for global improvement in the drug approval process. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR