The issue focused on an independent study that judges from the Food and Drug Administration were able to order in response to a legal complaint filed by the ACLU, arguing that doctors should be able to administer an experimental vaccine to anyone who asked for one without seeking medical advice first. According to a statement issued by the agency last week, the study was conducted as part of the agency's ongoing work on the safety of the so-called Advanced Technology Devices Assistance Program (ATDAP), which aims to enable doctors to administer experimental therapies