UNIC 2016/1

TEXTO:

Chaos at USP

  The chemistry institute at the University of São Paulo
(USP) has become the site of a “pilgrimage”, after the
courts reversed their decision to suspend the release of
a substance rumored to treat various types of cancer.
[5] The rush of patients to the institute began on Friday (9)
after the judge José Renato Nalini, president of the Courts
of Justice, reconsidered a request for the suspension of
the release of the substance phosphorylethanolamine.
The court’s decision was based on a Supreme Court
[10] order authorizing the provision of phosphorylethanolamine
capsules to a patient.
  In the last two days, lines of people have formed at
the university in search of the drug. Some believe that it
could be the last chance to save themselves or their
[15] loved ones. However, on Tuesday (13), people were told
that the drug was not available, as USP did not have it in
stock, and because the judicial orders would first have
to be officially protocolled at the university. It is
“madness”, according to the president of the Brazilian
[20] Society of Clinical Oncology, Evanius Wiermann. “The
patients are being used as guinea pigs, without any
guarantee of safety or efficacy,” he says. The drug has
yet to be tested on humans.
  In an interview with the local press in August, the
[25] retired USP professor Gilberto Chierice, who had
coordinated studies with phosphorylethanolamine, said
the substance could cure cancer. This sparked the initial
judicial appeals. He also said that the drug had only not
arrived on the market due to “lack of will” on the part
[30] of the authorities. Chierice was unavailable for comment.
  In a statement, USP said that phosphorylethanolamine
is not a cancer cure. It said it has been studied as a
chemical product and that there is no “firm proof that it

is effective against the disease.” It has been neither
[35] registered nor authorized for use by the National Health
Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), a state regulatory body
similar to the Food and Drug Administration in the US.

TOLEDO, Marcelo. Disponível em: < www1/folha.uol.com.br/internacional/ en/scienceandhealth/2015/10/1694240-chaos-at-usp-as-courts-releaseuntested-drug-for-cancer-treatment.shtml>. Acesso em: