Call centres, elderly people and drug trials. Exactly what is the West going to outsource to India next?
By 2010, experts estimate there will be two million patients in India on clinical trials. Drug companies, inclusive of Johnson and Johnson and the makers of Celebrex are attracted to India for numerous reasons, lower costs and fewer regulations being amongst them.
A BBC investigation into the conduct of these trials has found that some patients are unaware that they are being experimented on at all. Driven by poverty, exceptional recruitment rates abound, raising questions about fully-informed consent in a society where literacy remains continually low.
BBC2's 'This World' reports on the phenomenon in Drug Trials: The Dark Side will be broadcast on Thursday, 27 April, 2006 at 2100 BST on BBC Two.
A more concise expression of the sentiments covered can be found here.
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