Company Creates Bioethics Panel on Trial Drugs - Johnson & Johnson

NYTimes.com

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Johnson & Johnson said the bioethicist, Arthur L. Caplan of New York University, who has written extensively about the issue of experimental drug availability — known as “compassionate use” — would oversee an independent panel of doctors, ethicists and patient advocates that will review requests for access to a limited array of experimental medicines and decide how Johnson & Johnson should respond.

The pilot program will be funded by the company, which will have no influence on the panel’s decisions, Johnson & Johnson said, adding that payments will go directly to the university. Dr. Caplan will not be paid for his work in the program.

Dr. Caplan, who has argued that the industry needs a fairer, more consistent system for deciding whose requests should be granted, said he was intrigued when company executives approached him about the idea. “If we could structure this right, this would be a chance to not just complain about what’s wrong, but maybe to suggest a way forward,” he said in an interview......