Surgeon calls for overhaul of drug trials after unexpected death of his son

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A well-known Queensland surgeon is calling for a ‘one stop shop’ for access to clinical trials. Dr Anthony Lynham lost his son to brain cancer and says he is struggling to navigate the complex medical research network. He is hoping his personal story will lead to change.

Transcript

00:00An IT graduate, Eamon Lyman, had everything to live for, but at 27 came a devastating

00:09blow.

00:10He collapsed at home.

00:11We had nothing to suggest anything was wrong.

00:14The youngest son of four was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a common brain tumour.

00:20He died five months later.

00:22It's terribly difficult for the whole family.

00:26The grief is just so profound.

00:30I never realised I could feel grief so deep as the passing of my son.

00:36But with grief comes frustration that in the end Eamon's dad, a doctor himself, could not

00:41find a clinical trial for his son, despite frantically trying every waking minute.

00:47But it's just so hard to navigate.

00:50Now here's me, a consultant surgeon, with all my connections, with all my knowledge,

00:58a previous minister of the government, with even more connections, and how tough was it?

01:03It was virtually impossible.

01:06And he's not alone.

01:07So currently if you receive a diagnosis today, neither you, nor your family member, nor even

01:14sometimes your doctor, will be able to find a clinical trial that might be relevant and

01:18appropriate for you to take part in. And nationally, we need to be able to do better than that.

01:22This is despite three government inquiries over a decade calling for a national one-stop

01:28shop for medical research, like this online portal in the UK, which shows every trial in

01:35the country and who qualifies for treatment.

01:37Every drug that we take today has gone through clinical trial. This is the standard way that

01:42we approve drugs.

01:44$18 million has been set aside in last year's federal budget for a design phase of a streamlined,

01:50easy-to-use system. But a fit-for-purpose portal is by no means guaranteed and would require

01:57a lot more funding.

01:58There are many, many people like Miami that would benefit from a clinical trial when their

02:04diagnosis is beyond any normal medication that's available today.

02:08Throwing the spotlight on a heartbreaking issue in a bid to save others.

Category

Transcript

Recommended