Expressing concern over the alleged use of humans as guinea pigs by pharmaceutical companies, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to submit details of clinical trials of drugs conducted across the country as well as their side effects and deaths, if any.
A bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and A.R. Dave, asking the Union government to furnish details, also issued notice to all state governments asking if they were kept in the loop on clinical trials conducted in their states. The court asked the Centre to give details of the number of applications received by the directorate-general, drugs and cosmetics, for clinical trials from January 2005 to June 2012. It also asked the government to give details of the number of patients who suffered side effects due to these clinical trials, and the nature of the side effects. The court also sought information on the number of patients who had died due to clinical trials and what compensation had been paid to those who suffered side effects or the next of kin in case of deaths. “We are very serious on this matter. We can pass a one-line order that all clinical trials, which affect many people, must stop forthwith,” the judges warned.