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The commentary, by Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD, professor of social medicine and associate director of the UNC Center for Bioethics, argues that the WHO’s recommendation of dolutegravir as an HIV treatment for all populations was a significant advancement in the ethical inclusion of pregnant women in biomedical research.


The commentary, by Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD, professor of social medicine and associate director of the UNC Center for Bioethics, argues that the WHO’s recommendation of dolutegravir as an HIV treatment for all populations was a significant advancement in the ethical inclusion of pregnant women in biomedical research.

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Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD

An invited commentary written by Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD, professor of social medicine and associate director of the UNC Center for Bioethics, was published in the Nov. 30 issue of The Lancet.

In the commentary, titled “Dolutegravir: advancing ethical research in pregnancy,” Lyerly discusses the World Health Organization’s decision to recommend dolutegravir, a new antiretroviral medication, as the preferred first-line and second-line HIV treatment for all populations, including pregnant women.

She concludes that dolutegravir has been a “game-changer for the treatment of HIV because of its efficacy, tolerability and durability. But in calling attention to the importance of pregnancy-specific evidence, it has also earned that designation in relation to the ethical inclusion of pregnant women and their interests in biomedical research.”