A number of recent posts focus on the uncaring attitudes of the pharmaceutical industry. So how much is hype and how much is real?
For readers who may not have seen the recent movie "The Constant Gardener", a pharmaceutical company tests dangerous drugs on unsuspecting Africans. The Washington Post today reports a case where Pfeizer gave an unproven drug to nearly 100 children.
The drug in question is banned in Europe and severely restricted in the States. So where do they test a drug like that? –Africa.
”Pfizer contended that its researchers traveled to Kano with a purely philanthropic motive, to help fight the epidemic, which ultimately killed more than 15,000 Africans.
“The [investigating] committee rejected that explanation, pointing out that Pfizer physicians completed their trial and left while 'the epidemic was still raging.'
“Pfizer's experiment was ‘an illegal trial of an unregistered drug,’ the Nigerian panel concluded, and a ‘clear case of exploitation of the ignorant.’
“The confidential report …was provided by a source who asked to remain anonymous because of personal safety concerns."
[Full Washington Post article, "Panel Faults Pfizer in '96 Clinical Trial In Nigeria"]
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