Spain Imports Ebola Drug for Priest; Ethicists Weigh Use


By Caroline Chen Aug 11, 2014


Spain imported the experimental Ebola drug used on two American aid workers to treat a Spanish priest who came down with the fatal viral illness.

With global anxiety rising on Ebola, medical ethicists are weighing how best to use a limited supply of experimental medicines that have shown early promise in fighting a disease that’s killed almost 1,000 people this year. Spain obtained a dose of the drug known as ZMapp and is treating Miguel Pajares, a priest who was brought to Madrid Aug. 7 from Liberia, the Spanish health ministry said over the weekend.

A panel of ethicists convened by the World Health Organization today are weighing whether drugs that haven’t been widely tested for safety should be used in an outbreak where about 40 percent of infected people survive with just supportive care. If so, the panel members must address who gets the medicines, which so far only exist in small amounts.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-10/new-ebola-drugs-create-debate-over-effects-on-outbreak.html

Fantastic