Institutional review boards (IRBs) are one of the bodies charged with prospectively reviewing compassionate use, the hopefully therapeutic use of an unapproved drug in a seriously ill or dying patient who has no other treatment options. However, there are ethical issues in assigning this role to a body whose primary purpose is to review research proposals. The role of IRBs with regard to compassionate use must be examined and potentially revised.
BegumRKolstoeS. Can UK NHS research ethics committees effectively monitor publication and outcome reporting bias?BMC Medical Ethics. 2015; 16.
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CaplanABateman-HouseA. Compassion for each individual’s own sake: a comment on Mary Jean Walker et al., “Ethical Justifications for Access to Unapproved Medical Interventions: an Argument for (Limited) Patient Obligations.”Am J Bioethics. 2014;14:16–17.
