The Obama administration is asking a presidential commission to help decide an ethical quandary: Should the anthrax vaccine and other treatments being stockpiled in case of a bioterror attack be tested in children? "We can't just assume that what we have for adults works for children," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the panel Thursday. Controversy over whether to open pediatric studies of the anthrax vaccine led Sebelius to ask the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to tackle the question. The commission began its deliberations Thursday; recommendations are expected by year's end. Sebelius made clear that the question is far broader than anthrax. "There are serious ethical issues around the development of medical countermeasures for children" in general, she said. Developing protections for youngsters is critically important, but in a way that puts "our children's safety as our highest priority," Sebelius said. A decade after the anthrax attacks in the United States, the government has a multibillion-dollar stockpile of tools to fight back against some of the threats that worry defense experts. Notably missing is information on how to treat children in various emergencies — whether the same drugs their parents will get will work or be safe for them, and even what dose youngsters should receive...
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