Clinical trials for cancer patients at some Dublin hospitals owned by religious orders have been delayed due to objections over the use of contraception. Many experimental drugs used to treat cancer have been found to cause birth defects, and increase the risk of miscarriage, so doctors recommend that women avoid becoming pregnant when receiving the experimental treatment.
Patients undergoing experimental trials must sign a consent form and the trials are governed by protocols that safeguard patient health. The protocols are approved by the hospitals’ ethics committees and the Irish Medicines Board.
The Sunday Business Post understands that questions were raised by a member of the ethics committee at St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin 4,who wanted the stipulation that female cancer patients undergoing clinical trials should use barrier contraceptives removed from the protocol, citing religious grounds.
