Poverty has many victims and children are the worst hit. The sale of newly-born on Facebook is not the only sin being committed against children by a country that claims to be an IT super-power. In a reply to a query filed under the Right to Information (RTI), the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has said that in the past three years 1,542 children died in clinical trials of drugs carried out on them in India. Worse, out of 1542 children dead, the family of only 54 children were compensated.
The RTI reply, a copy of which is in possession of Millennium Post, states the remaining 1488 children could not be compensated because it could not be established whether they died due to trial or because of life-threatening diseases they were suffering from. But there is no denial that drug trials were indeed carried out on them.
In 2010, the total number of clinical deaths that were reported to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation was 668. However, Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) of death attributed to clinical trials were only 22. Similarly, in 2011, the death of only 16 out of 438 children was compensated. In 2012, out of 436 deaths that were reported, compensation was given again only to 16 children.
According to an official in the Directorate General of Health Services, ‘India is a popular place for drug clinical trials as the volunteer pool is huge and for drug companies the cost is low. In many cases, drug companies persuade the poor, illiterate, uneducated or tribal members to be their ‘willing’ participants.’ It’s estimated that between 2009 and 2012, there were 352,475 people enrolled for pharmaceutical tests. Can there be a better indicator of poverty?
The RTI reply, a copy of which is in possession of Millennium Post, states the remaining 1488 children could not be compensated because it could not be established whether they died due to trial or because of life-threatening diseases they were suffering from. But there is no denial that drug trials were indeed carried out on them.
In 2010, the total number of clinical deaths that were reported to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation was 668. However, Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) of death attributed to clinical trials were only 22. Similarly, in 2011, the death of only 16 out of 438 children was compensated. In 2012, out of 436 deaths that were reported, compensation was given again only to 16 children.
According to an official in the Directorate General of Health Services, ‘India is a popular place for drug clinical trials as the volunteer pool is huge and for drug companies the cost is low. In many cases, drug companies persuade the poor, illiterate, uneducated or tribal members to be their ‘willing’ participants.’ It’s estimated that between 2009 and 2012, there were 352,475 people enrolled for pharmaceutical tests. Can there be a better indicator of poverty?