Cancer drug trial delayed in row over contraception

ONE of the country’s largest hospitals has held up a cancer drug trial after its ethics committee objected to a requirement that women who take part use contraception.

The Mater in Dublin postponed a decision on the potentially life-saving trial because encouraging contraception conflicted with the hospital’s religious ethos.

It is the second hospital known to have taken issue with the requirement on ethical grounds, despite the risks to the unborn child if the patient became pregnant while taking a relatively new medication.