America’s multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry is outsourcing its drug trials to impoverished countries such as India, an investigation by Al Jazeera reports.
The documentary uncovers alleged examples of drugs being tested on illiterate people who are unaware that they are taking part in any trial, including on victims of the Bhopal chemical disaster at the hospital that was built to look after them.
Al Jazeera reports that one of the firms allegedly involved in trials at the Bhopal hospital is considered the largest clinical research organisation (CRO) in the world.
Russia, China, Brazil, Poland, Uganda and Romania are also “hot spots” for the trials, Al Jazeera reports, which are conducted by CROs employed by US pharmaceutical companies.
There is no suggestion that there is anything illegal in outsourcing drug trials.
The CRO industry is big business, worth as much as $30bn, the report says.
