When a national shortage forced Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to ration the chemotherapy drug carboplatin in 2023, about one in four allocation decisions did not match the cancer center's own written policy. That finding comes from a study in JAMA Network Open published Oct. 19, which reviewed decisions for 483 patients.
The rationing policy was built on stated ethical principles. It gave priority based on factors such as whether treatment aimed to cure the cancer and whether a patient had a good alternative drug. Yet some patients in the highest-priority groups went without carboplatin, while some in lower-priority groups received it.
