India’s poor ‘duped’ into clinical trials for untested drugs
“The doctor said we wouldn’t have to spend a penny. There was only one condition placed before us — that we should not approach local chemists if we ever ran out of his medicines but go straight to the doctor,” he said.
A petition filed by the family in India’s Supreme Court alleges that the drug tested on him was Atopaxar, developed by Japan-based pharmaceutical company Eisai and supposed to treat anxiety disorders.
His family and health rights group Swasthya Adhikaar Manch (Health Rights Platform) say that he would never have enrolled for the trial had he known that an untested drug would be administered.
The family also claims that the side-effects of the drug left Pathak suffering from dementia....
