ASTONISHING breakthrough or false dawn? Only time will tell which of these
overused phrases applies to the experimental drug treatment given to British
vCJD victim Rachel Forber
(see 鈥淒rug hope for vCJD鈥�).
A few weeks ago the 20-year-old former soldier was reportedly confined to a
wheelchair and unable to feed herself. Now, apparently, she can walk and use a
knife and fork. Hardly conclusive, but it is a ray of hope at least for the six
other British families who are looking after loved ones dying of this appalling
disease. Shouldn鈥檛 they too now be offered immediate prescriptions of this drug
combination鈥攊f only on the off-chance that it works?
Not according to the experts. The American team is adamant that the drugs
shouldn鈥檛 be given to the patients before a proper clinical trial has been
designed. The British government meanwhile points out that the treatment is
untried, unproven and could have harmful side effects.
Advertisement
But designing a trial will take months鈥攖ime the patients and their
families do not have. As for hang-ups about side effects, how much sense do
these make when patients are dying of a horrible brain disease and the drugs in
question have been around for decades? Chlorpromazine, remember, is a
50-year-old treatment for schizophrenia, quinacrine an old malaria drug.
What is of concern is that the drugs simply won鈥檛 work and that false hopes
will be cruelly raised鈥攗nlike Rachel, a second patient didn鈥檛 improve. But
the families themselves may feel that even a scintilla of a chance is worth
grasping. If so, it鈥檚 not for the doctors to hold back the drugs until trials
have been designed. Good science must sometimes take a back seat to
compassion.