Drug trial victim narrates his horror story.

September 4, 2006

Dear Sirs, Todays Bhubaneswar Edition of the Times Of India carried a story on drug trials being carried out in India after the Health Ministry has authorised Phase II and above trials, which I did not find in the internet edition. We health activists know that drug trials have been an inherent feature of the medical industry in India since long. In the year 1990 or wherabouts, pregnant women received a drug in a leading hospital of Delhi that created a furore when the press got scent of it. Nowadays the press prefers to turn a blind eye as it considers these trials to be "for the greater good of humanity". We do not want to come in the way of the "greater good of humanity" but wish to point out that; 1. There is really no sincere effort to find out if Phase I trials are being carried out in India. 2. There is no knowing what drug trials are being carried out as the regulatory body openly admits that with the proliferation of private clinics and hospitals it is impossible to keep an eye on everything that is done. 3. Doctors are carrying out drug trials in India without informing the patient. Often the patient is just told that a new "foreign" drug is being prescribed

and given free for the "patients benefit". 4. Doctors are clouded by incentives like foreign trips, "recognition" by foreign research organisations, foreign "education" and of course phoren money. 5. There is no law yet to determine what happens when the trials go wrong. What then happens to the patient? Is he compensated? In fact we wonder if there is any well thought out protocol in place. If it is there it has not been made public. Therefore we urge everybody to be very cautious if; 1. The doctor suggests a new "latest" drug for free. 2. If the school where your child studies informs you that doctors are to visit to "check up" the children. 3. If you leave your child in a creche then enquire if your child has been given any medicine. 4. Do NOT agree to any new experimental vaccine. 5. In vaccine camps by NGOs, ask for a copy of permission to conduct the camp given by the local health authority. 6. Be extremely cautious if the drug you are given is not a name

but a number. Remember, your health and security is your responsibility. Therefore, BE ALERT AND CAUTIOUS. I am enclosing below the plight of a victim. Such stories are emerging from all over the world. Regards, Jagannath. Drug trial turns awry for MBA gradIANS[ THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2006 03:24:24 PM] http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1819833.cms LONDON: An Indian student who completed a management course and agreed to be part of a drug trial has been struggling to cope with the effects of the trial and is looking forward to returning to India. Navneet Modi, the student, agreed to a drug trial for US testing firm Parexel in March, but is now said to be a pale shadow of his former outgoing self. He is reported to be taking anti-depressants and medication to stop his skin itching. The London-based Modi also has problems with his bowels and kidneys and his eyes feel permanently dry. He needs to apply eye drops regularly. Reports say that he may have suffered long-term damage, including malignant lymphoma, which the drug was supposed to cure. He told the Evening Standard : "I have memory problems. I can't remember my family. I keep crying for no reason. I feel so unsure about the future." Parexel had reportedly paid him almost 4,000 pounds for trials on two previous occasions. "Parexel has done nothing for us. Parexel has refused to get involved. They wouldn't even pay for the taxi to take us home from hospital," he said. Reports say that on the day of the trial, he was the third of the guinea pigs to be injected with TGN1412. It was 8.30 am and he started suffering headaches but was told not to worry. By 9.15 a.m., he felt pressure in his skull and in his back. He says he was given paracetamol for the pain. By 10.00 am he was slipping in and out of consciousness. Around midnight he was wheeled into Northwick

Park's intensive care unit where he was given steroids that his lawyers argue should have been administered almost 16 hours earlier. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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