
Outsourced: Clinical trials overseas
As US pharmaceutical companies move their operations abroad, India has become a testing ground for trial medicines.
US pharmaceutical companies have moved their operations overseas over the course of the past decade.
FAULT LINES EXTRA | ||||
|
Instead of testing trial medicines on Americans, more and more of these tests are being carried out on poor people in faraway places. Russia, China, Brazil, Poland, Uganda and Romania are all hot spots for what is called clinical research or clinical trials.
Keep reading
list of 4 itemsWHO recommends second malaria vaccine for children, rollout early next year
NHS strikes: What ails UK health service? Doctors’ protests or budget cuts?
Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman win Nobel Prize in medicine for mRNA vaccines
Now employing CROs – or clinical research organisations – the industry is big business, worth as much as $30bn today.
One country has experienced a boom like no other in this industry – India. Spoken English, an established medical infrastructure, welcoming attitudes toward foreign industry and, most importantly, legions of poor, illiterate test subjects that are willing to try out new drugs have transformed the Indian landscape into a massive testing ground for pharmaceuticals.
Fault Lines’ Zeina Awad travels to India to see what the clinical research practices look like on the ground. What role are the US regulatory bodies playing in overseeing the trials? Are participants aware that they are taking part in a clinical trial? Is the testing being held up against international ethical standards?
Fault Lines airs each week at the following times GMT: Monday: 2230; Tuesday: 0930; Wednesday: 0330; Thursday: 1630. Click here for more Fault Lines. |