Thousands of People in India Die During Drug Trials

Dr Mercola's article today was an eyeopener: Shocking Secret: 2,061 Clinical Trial-Related Deaths and the summary is below:

• Data from the Drug Controller-General of India revealed that more than 2,000 people in India died as a result of serious adverse events (SAEs) caused during drug trials from 2008-2011; only 22 cases, about 1 percent, received any compensation -- which was a paltry average of about $4,800 per family

• Drug companies often target poor, uneducated populations in India and other developing countries to participate in drug trials, where offers of $400 per study earn volunteers far more than the average pay rate of 50 cents a day

In 2010, the government of India called a halt to trials of the Hu­man Papilloma Virus (HPV) vac­cine Gardasil. This came about because of a civil society-led investigation, which highlighted serious ethical violations for clinical research and informed consent rights of study participants or their legal guardians – and followed reports that six of the young participants had died, and more than 120 girls suffered severe adverse reactions, including:

• Stomach disorders

• Epilepsy

• Headaches

• Early menarche

Unfortunately, reports suggested the deaths occurred because the girls either committed suicide (by poisoning) or drowned – despite reports by parents to the contrary.3 This is, sadly, but one example of deaths occurring during drug trials.

Earlier this year, the Argentinean Federation of Health Professionals accused GlaxoSmithKline of misleading participants and pressuring impoverished, disadvantaged families into enrolling their children in clinical trials of the experimental Synflorix pediatric pneumonia vaccine.

Fourteen of the children participating in the experimental vaccine trial died.