But since the majority of the potential testers are poor Africans, politics and "optics" become dominant.
There are a lot of problems with testing experimental drugs in this situation.
You don't know if the drugs will work. The best case scenario is that if the drugs don't work, they at least won't harm the patient further. But we don't know that. A few years ago, a drug that was perfectly safe in animals was injected into clinical trial volunteers and made them instantly and severely ill. They were in critical condition for a while, and had permanent effects from the drug--one guy lost his fingers.
Aside from safety issues, there are ethical issues. A few decades ago, Africa was seen as a source of unlimited test subjects for medical experimentation. Now, even in the face of this on-going crisis, there is still a strong suspicion among Africans that we only see them as guinea pigs.
I would love to see a safe and effective drug for Ebola. The reality is that it will be very difficult to achieve that.
If I were to do illegal testing on a group of unknowing people with anything from cancer cures to bio-weapons, Africa would be on the top of my list. There are very evil men and women in this world, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it has happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if Americans were involved. It does seem strange that poor African countries endure so much in the way of horrible ailments. But that can be trumped up to superstition, paranoia of doctors and medicine, starvation, sanitary conditions, and a whole host of conditions that super bugs thrive in. But Ebola and HIV did appear nearly out of nowhere. Remote village for Ebola where the spread could be easily contained and controlled, and who knows where AIDS came from. It certainly does make a man think.