Thursday, December 9, 2010

Article on clinical drug trials

Back in August, I reported that a study in Pediatrics found more and more pediatric drug trials are being conducted overseas. See here. Now, the most recent edition of Vanity Fair has published an article titled "Deadly Medicine" in which the authors investigate the globalization of the pharmaceutical industry, and the U.S. Government’s failure to rein in what it calls "a lethal profit machine." The reason for this description is summarized in the article's first paragraph: "Prescription drugs kill some 200,000 Americans every year. Will that number go up, now that most clinical trials are conducted overseas—on sick Russians, homeless Poles, and slum-dwelling Chinese—in places where regulation is virtually nonexistent, the F.D.A. doesn’t reach, and “mistakes” can end up in pauper’s graves?" You can read the full article here. For a comment on the article by the PopTort go here.

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