Like many other countries, South Korea has recognized the importance of biobanks as a tool for medical research and has engaged in two very important tasks to foster biobanking infrastructure: funding biobanks and setting up rules to protect the integrity of biobanks that share potentially sensitive personal information.

In May of 2006, the Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Development Drugs appeared to have won a victory when a divided panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that “terminally ill, mentally competent adult patients” had a constitutionally protected right to access investigational medications. This victory was short lived, however. On August 7, 2007, the D.C. Circuit sitting en banc reversed this earlier decision, marking a setback in Abigail's campaign for removal of the (...) regulatory barriers that currently prevent terminally ill patients from gaining early access to investigational drugs. This loss represents a big blow for Abigail's cause, because there is no guarantee that they will have another day in court, and attaining their goal through other branches of the government remains uncertain. (shrink)

In May of 2006, the Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Development Drugs appeared to have won a victory when a divided panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that “terminally ill, mentally competent adult patients” had a constitutionally protected right to access investigational medications. This victory was short lived, however. On August 7, 2007, the D.C. Circuit sitting en banc reversed this earlier decision, marking a setback in Abigail's campaign for removal of the (...) regulatory barriers that currently prevent terminally ill patients from gaining early access to investigational drugs. This loss represents a big blow for Abigail's cause, because there is no guarantee that they will have another day in court, and attaining their goal through other branches of the government remains uncertain. (shrink)