Must Subjects be Given Access to Experimental Interventions Even if they Do Not Work?

New York Times reports that Amgen has refused to allow subjects in a trial of an experimental drup to resume taking the drug for their Parkinson's disease after the company decided that the drug is ineffective and possibly dangerous.

The company said it would not make the drug available to the four dozen patients who had participated in its clinical trials, even though the Food and Drug Administration had left the door open for it to do so. Company executives said that besides exposing the patients to unnecessary risks, to let them continue treatment would only generate false hopes. It might also ultimately hinder development of improved versions of the drug, Amgen said.

- Art Caplan