Annals of Internal Medicine
18 March 2014, Vol. 160. No. 6
http://annals.org/issue.aspx

Ideas and Opinions | 18 March 2014
“Compassionate Use” for Public Health
Kristen A. Feemster, MD, MPH, MSHP; and Paul Offit, MD
Ann Intern Med. 2014;160(6):421-422-422. doi:10.7326/M13-2927
This article was published online first at www.annals.org on 24 December 2013.
http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1794331

Initial text
Since 22 March 2013, 8 cases of confirmed Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (MenB) meningitis have occurred among students and visitors at Princeton University. The only vaccine in production that protects against MenB is being distributed in response to the outbreak. This distribution is the first time the “compassionate use” mechanism has been granted to allow a group of healthy persons access to a nontherapeutic biological drug. The authors discuss the ethical implications of this decision.