Drugs: The Blood Diamonds of the Pharmaceutical Industry

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Enter any drug store in the United States, and you are instantly surrounded by thousands of drugs. They vary in size, color, strength and price. Some are easily obtained off the counter, while pharmacists hold others under lock and key. Despite the vast assortment available, they all have one process in common. Clinical trials. Before we can take them for our headaches, hypertension and hypoglycemia they all undergo the rigorous process of clinical trials. However, these trials have often resulted in the exploitation of vulnerable populations all over the world. As with all trials involving human participants, the ethical implications of clinical trials are now facing greater scrutiny. Carl Elliot investigates the role of American participants in clinical trials in “Guinea-Pigging: Healthy human subjects for drug safety trials are in demand. But is it a living?” His article highlights a critical reason why trials have begun to move overseas. Several problems have arisen as a result of the globalization of clinical trials, and the medical community has started to take notice. In “Ethical and Scientific Implications of the Globalization of Clinical Research”, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Seth W. Glickman and his associates delve into the increasing trend of globalization and its consequences. Drs. Harold Shapiro and Eric M. Meslin perform the same level of scrutiny, but with a greater focus on the development of the trials, in “Ethical Issues in the Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials in Developing Countries.” Christopher Rowland of the Boston Globe presents the motivation for globalization in “Clinical Trials seen Shifting Overseas Tufts Study Cites lack of U.S. Subjects”. Finally Sandhya Srinivasan an... ... middle of paper ... ...panies in developing countries, none were trials of diseases such as tuberculosis that disproportionately affect the populations of these countries. In contrast, we found a variety of trials in developing countries for conditions such as allergic rhinitis and overactive bladder. (“Ethical and Scientific Implications of the Globalization of Clinical Research” 819) This is a result on the location of the pharmaceutical companies funding the trials. Generally these companies are based in wealthy western nations, and as a result, test medications for conditions and diseases that affect the western world. The participants are once again exploited since they obtain little to no benefit from participating in the trial. While it may seem like the problems associated with clinical trials are too large to overcome, with a few reforms everyone can benefit from the trials.

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