Recently, University College London Hospitals (UCLH) received a “Specials License” to allow the treatment of six patients suffering from Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease (CJD), by way of a novel antibody known as PRN100. The results of this treatment have now been published in The Lancet.
There is currently no cure for CJD, yet over 100 people per year develop it either spontaneously or through external means including (but not limited to) growth hormones, cataract surgery or infected neurosurgical implements [1]. “There is no UK legislation which implements a compassionate use programme as set out in Article 83 of the relevant EU regulation. But the UK has implemented an exemption process known as the “Specials” in light of the requirement to be able to deal with special needs.” [2]
As there is no known cure, the request for use of PRN100 was put before the court as in Law “Some treatment decisions are so serious that the court has to make them.”
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