India: Government Admits Clinical Trial Deaths

[Ticker]

By: UCAN
August 24, 2012

The government has admitted for the first time that thousands of people have died during clinical trials of new drugs produced by multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Federal Minister for Health and Family Welfare Gulam Nabi Azad said yesterday that 1,106 people died in the two years preceding March this year after undergoing human trials of new drugs.

Another 38 deaths were listed as mishaps in connection with these trials, the minister told the upper house of parliament in New Delhi.
India

Previously the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare reported that the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization had approved drugs for sale in India without clinical trials, he said.

“This is the first time the Indian government has admitted so many people have died of clinical trials in India,” Anand Rai, a doctor-turned-activist who has set up an organization to help clinical trial victims, said today.

His NGO, Clinical Trial Victims of India, has filed several cases in courts across India in a bid to seek justice for victims of these trials.

“[The government] never bothered about the fate of poor victims who had undergone clinical trials,” said Rai, who is based in the central Indian city of Indore.

Multinational drug companies have used Indian citizens as guinea pigs, he added, a process which he said had been fueled by the lack of accountability.

“In most cases, when people died during trials, the doctors listed their deaths as due to chronic illnesses to evade compensation laws,” said Rai.

The health minister has said the deaths could be due to terminal illnesses such as cancer or the administration of strong drugs on critically or terminally ill patients which could lead to fatal side-effects.

Kerala state on the southwest coast has recently closed its health and research center after it conducted 47 such trials over the past three years.

Link: India: Government Admits Clinical Trial Deaths Eurasia Review

 

[Roybot]

1106, isn't exactly "thousands".

 

[Icewolf]

Wow!!! Cannot believe this type of stuff happens in India!!

I thought waking up with your kidney stolen in a hospital in India was disgusting and now!!

 

[Roybot]

Wow!!! Cannot believe this type of stuff happens in India!!

I thought waking up with your kidney stolen in a hospital in India was disgusting and now!!

Happens all over the world.

 

[Ticker]

1106, isn't exactly "thousands".

The guy is basically giving the count of last two years only, which is 1106.

And yes, 1106 isn't thousands, but 1106 are human beings which were used as guinea pigs and all have died.

Doesn't it bother you. In your effort to protect India's good name, you can ignore so many wrongful deaths and that too of your own people.

Shameful indeed.

 

[Icewolf]

Happens all over the world.

Pull up a article.

 

[Ticker]

Happens all over the world.

wow ...... why don't you go and order some more Indian humans killed to protect your pharmaceutical industry.

Utterly disgusting.

 

[Roybot]

The guy is basically giving the count of last two years only, which is 1106.

And yes, 1106 isn't thousands, but 1106 are human beings which were used as guinea pigs and all have died.

Doesn't it bother you. In your effort to protect India's good name, you can ignore so many wrongful deaths and that too of your own people.

Shameful indeed.

Firstly stop acting like it happens only in India. Secondly you need to understand that most of these clinical trial patients are terminally ill anyways and they turn to unproven drugs as a last resort. They know what they are getting themselves into and the associated risks.

3/4th clinical trial deaths during cardiovascular, anti-cancer tests

Till June 2012, of the 211 casualties reported, 82 and 66 respectively happened in cardiovascular and anti-cancer cases while 12, eight and five deaths were in anti-diabetic, antiviral/anti-fungal and cerebrovascular categories.

“As many as 38 deaths were due to other reasons,” Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The number of clinical trial deaths reported in 2010, 2011 and up to June 2012 were 668, 438 and 211 respectively. Category wise, during anti-cancer clinical trials, 226 deaths took place in 2010 and 139 in 2011, while there were 66 deaths this year till June. Similarly, during clinical trials in cardiovascular category, 368 deaths took place in 2010, in 2011 it was 229 and 82 in 2012 till June, Azad said.

However, as questions are being raised on the way the clinical trials are being conducted in view of increasing deaths of subjects and less compensation, the Minister said that the SAE of deaths may occur during clinical trials due to various reasons. “These deaths could be due to life-threatening diseases like cancer, cardio-vascular conditions like congestive heart failure/stroke and other serious disease.”

They could also be due to the side effects of the drugs or their administration to critically or terminally ill patients. Such deaths are investigated to arrive at the casual relationship, if any, the Minister added.

 

[Icewolf]

Firstly stop acting like it happens only in India. Secondly you need to understand that most of these clinical trial patients are terminally ill anyways and they turn to unproven drugs as a last resort. They know what they are getting themselves into and the associated risk.

3/4th clinical trial deaths during cardiovascular, anti-cancer tests

It means Indian govt is so barbarious that they dont have a law preventing this... Very good

 

[Roybot]

Pull up a article.

wow ...... why don't you go and order some more Indian humans killed to protect your pharmaceutical industry.

Utterly disgusting.

Agains stop pretending like Clinial drug trials happens only in India.

Studies on Map - ClinicalTrials.gov

 

[Peregrine]

Happens all over the world.

So would you be kind enough to volunteer yourself or some members of your family for new drug tests?

 

[Icewolf]

Agains stop pretending like Clinial drug trials happens only in India.

Studies on Map - ClinicalTrials.gov

I will believe a map whch shows Pakistan Kashmir as Indian Kashmir

 

[Roybot]

So would you be kind enough to volunteer yourself or some members of your family for new drug tests?

Stop acting all emotional, almost all life saving drugs that we use today are in circulation because of clinical trials. If you feel its morally wrong, maybe you can stop taking all the modern medicines?

I will believe a map whch shows Pakistan Kashmir as Indian Kashmir

You can talk to US government about that, its a US government website.

 

[Peregrine]

Stop acting all emotional, almost all life saving drugs that we use today are in circulation because of clinical trials. If you feel its morally wrong, maybe you can stop taking all the modern medicines?

Don't be a moron, trying to justify the killings of innocent people under the pretext of medical advancement is as disguisting as you being called a human. BTW for a protagonist like you, it shouldn't be hard to volunteer............then why don't you? Hypocrisy much?

 

[Roybot]

Don't be a moron, trying to justify the killings of innocent people under the pretext of medical advancement is as disguisting as you being called a human. BTW for a protagonist like you, it shouldn't be hard to volunteer............then why don't you? Hypocrisy much?

Again, its not forced upon anyone, these people are terminally ill(I hope you know what the term means). If I was terminally ill, and some drug company came along and told me, hey if you participate in this drug trial their is a slim chance that you ll get cured and if you die(which I would anyways) your family will get compensated. Now me or my family might not need money, but for thousands of terminally ill people (specially in developing countries) who come from a not so well off background, this might sound like a good option.

These life saving drugs don't just magically appear on your pharmacy shelves, clinical trial is part of the process.