Drug company will give ailing 7-year-old medicine that could save him

[cali]

After days of pleading with drug company executives, Josh Hardy's parents got what they'd been praying for: a chance to get medicine that could help their son survive.

The Chimerix pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that the ailing 7-year-old will receive medicine that doctors hope will help him when he becomes the first patient in a new trial set to start Wednesday.

Todd Hardy, Josh's father, said he got the call from Chimerix president Kenneth Moch about a half hour before the public announcement was made.

"It was wonderful," Hardy said. "Truly wonderful. It was overwhelming."

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http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/health/josh-hardy-drug-study/

[Aristus]

1. The positive PR the company will get for this gesture will outweigh the cost of the medicine

significantly.

[dilby]

6. Unless the kids dies.

Then the company will probably never go to market.

[leftynyc]

2. That's wonderful news

It seems that shaming these companies into doing the right thing has become a lot easier to do thanks to the internet and social media. I would encourage everyone to take note.

[tridim]

4. Yep, public shaming/ridicule is a killer app IMO. It's super powerful.

And just starting to be used regularly.

IMO it's one reason why the GOP is falling. They can't stop the Internet BS detector.

[jsr]

3. So the great man decided to spare the little boy's life

Only after much adverse publicity and persistent begging from the family.

[magical thyme]

5. the little boy's father called the great man a hero

"Todd Hardy hailed Moch as a hero.

"He's a super man. He worked diligently on behalf of everybody," Hardy said. "His integrity was unquestioned. He was utterly professional.""

We don't know what went on behind the scenes. Note that somebody had to get FDA approval, and that the little boy will be the first use in a new trial.

I'm not going to vilify the CEO who had said no and then said yes, based on media reports.

[1awake]

7. I think if my son was laying there dying

And the CEO called me, I would feel complete joy and gratitude. Later, it might be a different story but facing losing a child can be very powerful.

Note this is not in defense of the company at all. Just a simple assessment of what my emotions might look like at that point in time.

[magical thyme]

9. We all would.

I would not want to be in that CEO's shoes. There are powerful ethical considerations involved. The drug has not be tested or tried in children, so no data on dosing, etc. There is nothing that says it won't kill the boy before his disease does. When they pull the limited supply out of the planned testing, it slows down FDA approval, which means that one or more lives who could be saved down the road won't be, and that is based on a gamble.

At least by putting within the context of a trial, regardless of this outcome, the information learned will go toward saving additional lives down the road.

[Orrex]

10. I think the important thing is to focus on the negative.

Isn't that the best policy always?

[Gothmog]

11. This is good news