Fight for potential life-saving drug continues for Va. boy

WASHINGTON -

Tom and Aimee Hardy are holding out for a miracle. Their 7-year-old son Josh has beat cancer four times, but now a virus he contracted following a bone marrow transplant is threatening his life.

The Fredericksburg, Va. familys quest for access to a drug that could turn it all around has gained national attention. The potentially breakthrough anti-viral drug, Brincidofovir, is still in the trial phase, but doctors treating Josh at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital are convinced it could have him on the road to recovery in a matter of weeks.

The maker, Chimerix, stopped releasing it for "compassionate use" to patients like Josh two years ago.

CEO Kenneth Moch says it's a decision he had to make in order to help more patients down the road. He says the small company lacks the resources to handle all of the requests, while at the same time, conducting research to gain approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan, a professor at New York University Langone Medical Center, says he understands both sides, telling FOX 5, "The company's main worry is if they give this drug to Josh, the flood gates are going to open and they're not going to be able to handle all of the people who might line up and say my child has a problem too."

He says it shines a spotlight on what he calls a national problem.

"Where is Congress?" asks Caplan.

He continued, "Where in the health care debate do we have the creation of a program for compassionate use?"

For Josh, time may be running out. His mother tells FOX 5 the Adenovirus is spreading to his lungs, which is very dangerous. She has been pleading with the company and spreading her son's story through social media.

More here:
Fight for potential life-saving drug continues for Va. boy