“Compassionate Use” for Public Health
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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.