Acesso a medicamentos para doenças raras no pós-estudo: revisão integrativa / Post-trial access to drugs for rare diseases: an integrative review / Acceso a medicamentos para enfermedades raras en el posestudio: una revisión integradora

Resumo A fim de analisar a produção científica acerca do acesso a medicamentos no pós-estudo por participantes de ensaios clínicos com doenças raras, realizou-se revisão integrativa da literatura nas bases Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Embase, PubMed, SciELO, Scopus e Web of Science, abrangendo 21 estudos. No processo analítico, surgiram duas categorias: pesquisa clínica com drogas órfãs e regulação do mercado; e acesso a drogas órfãs: história, globalização e direito à saúde. A primeira analisa questões relativas à quantidade de pacientes com doenças raras, à eficácia e à segurança dessas pesquisas e aos custos e preços dos medicamentos. A segunda trata do panorama histórico do acesso pós-estudo, da globalização dos ensaios clínicos e das dificuldades para efetivar o direito ao acesso a drogas órfãs no pós-estudo. Poucos artigos abordaram o acesso ao medicamento no pós-estudo por participantes com doenças raras como questão central, o que aponta a importância de mais estudos sobre esse tema.

Abstract This study is an integrative literature review to analyze the scientific production about post-trial drug access by participants of clinical trials for rare diseases. The search was carried out in the Virtual Health Library, Embase, PubMed, SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science databases, covering 21 studies. Two categories emerged from the analysis: clinical research with orphan drugs and market regulation; and access to orphan drugs: background, globalization and the right to health. The first analyzes issues related to the number of patients with rare diseases, the efficacy and safety of these studies and the cost and price of medications. The second addresses the historical background of post-trial access, the globalization of clinical trials and the difficulties to ensure the right to post-trial access to orphan drugs. Few articles addressed post-trial drug access by participants with rare diseases as a central issue, which points to the importance of further studies on this subject.

Resumen Se pretende analizar la producción científica sobre el acceso a medicamentos para enfermedades raras en el posestudio a partir de una revisión integradora en las bases de datos Biblioteca Virtual en Salud, Embase, PubMed, SciELO, Scopus y Web of Science, que encontraron 21 estudios. Surgieron dos categorías en el análisis: investigación clínica con medicamentos huérfanos y regulación del mercado; y acceso a medicamentos huérfanos: historia, globalización y derecho a la salud. La primera examina el número de pacientes con enfermedades raras, la eficacia y seguridad de los estudios, así como los costes y precios de los medicamentos. La segunda aborda el panorama histórico del acceso posestudio, la globalización de los ensayos clínicos y las dificultades para materializar el derecho al acceso a medicamentos huérfanos en el posestudio. Pocos estudios plantean el acceso a estos medicamentos en el posestudio, y son necesarios más estudios sobre el tema.

Ethical problems in pediatrics: what does the setting of care and education show us?

BACKGROUND: Pediatrics ethics education should enhance medical students' skills to deal with ethical problems that may arise in the different settings of care. This study aimed to analyze the ethical problems experienced by physicians who have medical education and pediatric care responsibilities, and if those problems are associated to their workplace, medical specialty and area of clinical practice. METHODS: A self-applied semi-structured questionnaire was answered by 88 physicians with teaching and pediatric care responsibilities. Content analysis was performed to analyze the qualitative data. Poisson regression was used to explore the association of the categories of ethical problems reported with workplace and professional specialty and activity. RESULTS: 210 ethical problems were reported, grouped into five areas: physician-patient relationship, end-of-life care, health professional conducts, socioeconomic issues and health policies, and pediatric teaching. Doctors who worked in hospitals as well as general and subspecialist pediatricians reported fewer ethical problems related to socioeconomic issues and health policies than those who worked in Basic Health Units and who were family doctors. CONCLUSIONS: Some ethical problems are specific to certain settings: those related to end-of-life care are more frequent in the hospital settings and those associated with socioeconomic issues and public health policies are more frequent in Basic Health Units. Other problems are present in all the setting of pediatric care and learning and include ethical problems related to physician-patient relationship, health professional conducts and the pediatric education process. These findings should be taken into consideration when planning the teaching of ethics in pediatrics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This research article didn't reports the results of a controlled health care intervention. The study project was approved by the Institutional Ethical Review Committee (Report CEP-HIJG 032/2008).