when youths turn guinea pigs

sadhuji

A News report (Times of India, 11/1/2005) revealed some really shocking news.

It seems that in Gujarat, youths accept part time jobs of becoming guinea pigs for pharmaceutical industry for testing of drugs. It seems this is a much better paying job than what they normally earn after toiling for the whole day.

The returns range from Rs 3500 to Rs 5000 for a five day session and upto Rs 15000 for a 15 day exercise.

As a community activist commented - 'girls turn to prostitution - boys are also abusing their bodies, in a different way.

beach

‘Ignorance madam pure ignorance’, said Dr.Johnson to a lady journalist who said there is a mistake in his latest dictionary. The journalist didn’t have the courage to ask him whose ignorance, hers or his!

The news people survive upon the juiciness of the news. Who will pay and buy if they report news as a factual reporting. More than anything else it requires some work from the reporter to study and understand the things.

Okay enough of bashing the newsmen. The point is testing new medicine on humans is neither a crime nor a scam. This is part and parcel of the drug development. On the other hand selling a new drug, which was not tested, is a huge mistake.

Leave alone drugs, take any of the things we use day to day life, let it be aftershave lotion, lipstick, soap, razor, shampoo, all are tested on the so called guinea pigs before brought to market.

When reading such new the public gets an impression that some mad scientist has invented some chemical. He looks for some vulnerable people to inject this and see if they die or how they react.

This is not drug trial. It’s a highly scientific procedure based on stringent ethic protocols. No scientists are allowed freely to try this even on lab animals. On the first place the trial is the end activity of the drug research. 99% of the known toxins etc in the new drugs are identified using the lab experiments and tests. After that this is cleared for clinical trial.

In the beginning of the clinical trial the scientist to prove to the ethic committee that need of the trial. That this drug is new and it’s usefulness. Also if similar drugs are tested else where and data available. This avoids unnecessary sacrifice of lab animals.

Again animals itself are of different categories. The rat is listed in the lowest category & Primates (monkeys) at the highest, next to humans. All other animals (mouse, guinea pig, rabbits). Nobody is to allowed to do it straight on primates (monkeys). In other words it has to be scientifically proved that why the study has to be done on a higher animal.

In India even the stray dogs are excluded from the lab tests, thanks to Menaka & co. To do a test on dog you have to get a dog specifically ‘farmed’ for this purpose and not a randomly caught dog from the street.

The human trials are at the highest end of the trials. Those who raise their eyebrow show understand one thing. Given a choice of two drugs, one tested on humans and the other the untested, which one would you prefer?

There are enough things to take care of the safety of the volunteer & the ethics of the study. On the first place the volunteer is made fully aware of what the test is all about. What all could be the side effects etc etc. This is called informed consent.

Secondly about the compensation. The law restricts the limits of compensation. For example you can’t use size of compensation as a lure to take risk. The cost paid is usually related to the trouble (in terms of how long the volunteer is required to undergo trial etc) than the risk of the trial. So it just doesn’t appear as an easy way to make a lot of money or exploit a financial situation.

There is no need to look at the subject undergone test as a human guinea pig. The fact is that we are breathing a lot of poison than a thousand clinical trials on us. No body complains about it. Because it doesn’t appear sexy. People know pollution is bad and it is unhealthy. If a journalist write about it who is going to read.

As far as India is concerned, we look at there with a lot of skepticism. If the laws are liberated people will start exploiting the poor people on all these trials etc. After all every one cannot undergo drug trial. It’s not the question on someone’s willingness alone. The subjects are selected based on their clinical suitability.

If things go in the right direction Indian drug industry will make its IT companies look like kids. Drug researches are horribly expensive elsewhere in the world .The Indian scientist cost just one hundredth of what it cost else where. That too there are tons of PhDs in various pharmaceutical disciplines are churned out in India. Also it has a mind-boggling pool of genetic diversity. Extreme range of clinical versatility….,the fertile ground for drug discovery.

Hyderabad is going to be the Genome valley the way Bangalore is for IT.

Those who report these kinds of stories have the obligation to tell the full truth too. Rather than telling story like …. car emits carbon monoxide. And carbon monoxide kills. People start throwing stone at the first car and run after the blood of its inventor.

Where is the reporter to tell the full story about drug trial? Oh, he’s busy covering the Kareena-Shahid smooch story. He tries to prove that 20 millimeter of her tongue was inside his mouth for 73 seconds. Readers reach the pinnacle of excitement.

sadhuji

you may like to read the complete report as available on the following website
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...how/984742.cms

edwardseco

This is outsourcing a job I did as a student..

beach

Yes.I've seen enough 'reports' and many TV shows.

The title 'Jobless youth willing guinea pigs' itself is an insult to to people who are willing to participate. It's either out of ignorance or purposefuly to make a news appear as a crime reporting.

They should report breaking of the law in thses cases (which too happens at times) than the conduct of the test itself. The most serious being the drug trial done at the RCC (Regional Cancer Centre) at Trivandrum. Patient were injected with a new anti cancer drug without their concent.This is an extreme offence.

Even the most risky drugs tried on terminal patients are done with their concent. They are to be treated with ultimate respect as it is a invaluable service they are doing to the mankind.It needs an immense courage to agree for such a thing. It requires a very cruel or ignorant mind to call them guinea pigs.

And that tobacco do 1000 times more damage to human body than the drug trial.