Pepper, Michael Sean2021-09-072021-09-072020-12Pepper, M.S. 2020, 'Access to novel therapies for COVID-19 – distributive justice and Russian roulette?', South African Medical Journal, vol. 110, no. 12, pp. 1156-1157.0256-9574 (print)2078-5135 (online)10.7196/SAMJ.2020.v110i12.15362http://hdl.handle.net/2263/81671In an ideal world, universal access to healthcare should be achievable; all COVID-19 patients should have access to therapies that improve outcomes. These include existing, repurposed and novel therapies. Novel therapies need to be safe and effective, and a well-established path for obtaining information regarding safety and efficacy has been in place for many years. The pandemic has seen an acceleration in these processes: existing medicines are being rapidly repurposed, there is a massive drive to develop novel treatments and vaccines, and access to experimental treatments is being granted on compassionate grounds.en© 2020 Health & Medical Publishing Group. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Works License (CC BY-NC 3.0).PatientsTherapiesVaccinesCOVID-19 pandemicCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Article