title: Ebola virus in West Africa: waiting for the owl of Minerva.
abstract: The evolving Ebola epidemic in West Africa is unprecedented in its size and scope, requiring the rapid mobilization of resources. It is too early to determine all of the ethical challenges associated with the outbreak, but these should be monitored closely. Two issues that can be discussed are (1) the decision to implement and evaluate unregistered agents to determine therapeutic or prophylactic safety and efficacy and (2) the justification behind this decision. In this paper, I argue that it is not compassionate use that justifies this decision and suggest three lines of reasoning to support the decision.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Clinical Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, ross.upshur@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ross E G
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Upshur
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western / Q000453:epidemiology; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D057176:Compassionate Use Trials / Q000941:ethics*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017277:Drug Approval; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014943:Global Health; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000941:ethics* / Q000639:trends; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000941:ethics*; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents