By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    benefits of using protein powder to build muscles
    Protein Powder for Muscle Mass: Everything You Need to Know
    December 12, 2021
    changes brought on by blockchain in healthcare
    Technology In The Healthcare Industry
    March 28, 2022
    What Does Core Body Temperature Say About Health?
    August 17, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Do Electronic Health Records Reduce Malpractice Claims?
    February 2, 2013
    A Humble Opinion: Book Review
    May 3, 2015
    medicaid
    Paul Krugman: Stop Being an Embarrassment to the Profession
    March 7, 2013
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Cancer Patient’s Compassionate Use Conundrum Leads to Social Media Ambush on BioMarin
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Social Media > Cancer Patient’s Compassionate Use Conundrum Leads to Social Media Ambush on BioMarin
BusinesseHealthNewsSocial Media

Cancer Patient’s Compassionate Use Conundrum Leads to Social Media Ambush on BioMarin

Deanna Pogorelc
Deanna Pogorelc
Share
4 Min Read
compassionate use
SHARE

compassionate use

Originally published on MedCityNews.com.

compassionate use

Originally published on MedCityNews.com.

More Read

FDA Approves First and Only Weekly Diabetes 2 Shot Therapy in the US
#Doctors20 & You Conference: #mHealth, #ePatients, #Collaboration
The Benefits Of Apps That Help You Stay Fit
Scientists Using the Web to Raise Research Funds
Avita Medical’s ReCell Achieves Breakthrough in Leg Ulcer Treatment

For the past seven years, Andrea Sloan has been battling ovarian cancer. Now, she’s waging a second battle – this one against BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BMRN) – after being denied access to an experimental drug she thinks is her last hope. And in the process, she’s raising some tough questions about the process of clinical trials and drug approvals.

Thanks to Twitter, Facebook and mainstream media, Sloan has collected some 147,000 signatures on a petition to the CEO of the San Rafael, California, pharmaceutical company. She’s requesting access to BMN673, BioMarin’s cancer drug which shrunk the tumors of 11 out of 25 ovarian cancer patients by at least 30 percent in a recent Phase 1/2 trial,

Those might not seem like great odds, but 45-year-old Sloan and her doctors think it’s her last chance at survival. Since being diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer seven years ago, she’s been through several rounds of chemotherapy, two rounds of radiation and five surgeries. Even after she was in remission for a few years, the cancer returned.

Unable to operate on her anymore, Dr. Charles Levenback at the MD Anderson Cancer Center suggested she look for alternative options — namely, BioMarin’s drug. The problem is that BioMarin, at least for now, is conducting a Phase 3 trial of the drug in breast cancer patients, not ovarian cancer patients.

The FDA allows drug companies to give experimental drugs to patients outside of clinical trials if a patient has a life-threatening disease and has “no comparable or satisfactory alternative treatment options.” Sloan meets those “compassionate use” requirements and was cleared by the FDA to pursue access to the drug, given that she has waived any responsibility on the part of BioMarin if the it doesn’t work or, worse, does more harm. But the company has turned down her request in a written letter, saying it’s “too early to know if the experimental therapy is safe or effective, or will even prolong life.”

A lawyer by training and the executive director of Texas Advocacy Project, a non-profit that provides free legal services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, Sloan isn’t one to quietly accept no for an answer. She’s amassed an “Andi’s Army” of nearly 13,000 people on Facebook, started a conversation with the Twitter hashtag #BMN673 and gained the support of celebrities including Newt Gingrich, who wrote about her in a blog post titled A Sick Bureaucracy.

BioMarin, for its part, hasn’t said much. In a letter Sloan provided to Huffington Post, Chief Medical Officer, Henry Fuchs, wrote that the company was evaluating whether to conduct additional trials in ovarian cancer but hadn’t reached a decision yet.

At the heart of Sloan’s social media ambush is, of course, the desire to save her own life. But in an interview with Huffington Post Live, she said her goal wasn’t to encourage tons of grassroots campaigns like her own by all of the other patients in her same position who can’t get access to potentially life-saving drugs. Rather, she said, the goal is to encourage companies to “develop meaningful policies that are easily navigable by patients and their physicians in extreme circumstances.”

[Photo from change.org]

TAGGED:Andrea SloanBioMarin Pharmaceuticals
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Precision Medicine or Personalized Medicine: What’s in a Name?

February 16, 2015
Medical Device Marketing online FDA
eHealthPolicy & LawSocial Media

FDA Offers Guidance on Social Media Etiquette for Medical Device Manufacturers

July 4, 2014

High Expectations for mHealth in Developing Countries

August 23, 2012
healthcare entrepreneurs
eHealthSocial Media

7 Notable Entrepreneurs in the Health and Beauty Sectors

March 10, 2021
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?