Access to Medicne Part- 5 (English)
“A Walk through, in the History of Clinical Trials”
As such, the history of clinical trials is very old, hundreds of years old, but let’s look at the 19th century. The year was 1942, when experiments were being carried out in a well-known Nazi concentration camp in Germany to find a cure for malaria. For this purpose, in the concentration camps, people and children without any disease were given malaria-producing mosquito mucus gland substance and its injection was given to healthy people to make them malaria patients. Different drugs were used in a very inhuman way. The experiment was performed on about 1,200 people, more than half of whom may have died, while those who survived were permanently disabled.
A similar experiment was performed on a pair of individuals born as genetic twins, experimenting on one and testing the effect on the other. In this inhumane experiment, one use to die and the other use to get killed, and the autopsy reports of the two bodies were compared.
History has seen quite a number of such cruel human experiments. The example of the German concentration camp is given because in a very short period of time a large number of such bad methods were experimented and many people lost their lives in it while those who survived were suffering all through their life like hell.
After the end of World War II, a survey was conducted in 1945 with the permission of the then German president, led by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain to declare Nazi party members war criminals. In this survey there were many doctors who said that there are no rules, laws, guidelines or principles that exist for human experiment (clinical trials). As this matter is very important, Doctors such as Andrew and Alexander who were involved in this process, made this clear in their report to the then United States World War Crimes Committee. Along with this, 6 rules were given for human experiment of medicine. After studying all these, the committee announced its findings on 20 August 1947, in which 6 points from the report and 4 additional points were added with the help of some medical experts and a guideline of 10 points was issued. It all started within the city of Nuremberg in Germany therefore it is known as the ‘Numberg Trials’. This phenomenon is permanently a major milestone in the human experiment of medicine. It is on this basis that the Human Rights Commission or other organizations have formulated the rules, regulations and conditions of human testing of drugs in countries around the world.
In the year 1996, influenza had hit Nigeria and children were dying. A world-renowned pharmaceutical company in the United States immediately dispatched a drug that had never been used in childrens before. In this case the protector only became the exploiter. Instead of being cured by this drug, children started dying. This trend of death was going in, in a few hundreds a day. Some of them got chronic joint disease which stayed permanently.
When the matter came to light in depth, it was discovered that the company had used the drug for human testing. The company issued a 1997 letter of permission from the Kuno Medical Institute, asking if the parents of the children who had been given the drug had been given prior permission, citing all the risks. In fact, there were no ethical committees in the organization until 1996, and the verbal consent was taken from the parents by the company, because the company claimed that these people could not read or write. A thorough investigation revealed that the people here can write, speak and understand English, Xhosa and Urdu, which means that this horrific human test was carried out in a very inhumane manner by keeping the people of Nigeria in the dark. History has seen many such examples of inhuman testing.
Some social organizations are keeping a close eye on such kinds of issues and from time to time they are raising their voice against them.
Let’s come out of past and let me bring your attention to the statement issued few days ago by the Chairman of the World Health Organization (WHO) which said, “The world should not look at the continent of Africa as an empty field for human testing of the corona.”
Why would WHO Chair make that statement consciously ? Because, while conducting these experiments, one has to undergo great pain and have to at times face death. During such a situation everyone looks at the weaker sections of the society who are seen as potential object to be used for the experiment of the drug. Taking advantage of poverty, lack of education, they are deliberately pushed to the brink of death by giving false lure or false information.
Anyone looking forward to the solution for corona crisis should realize that the sooner a drug needs to be marketed, the more important it needs to be closely monitored and monitored at every stage.Doctors and Scientists from all over the world are working day and night for this. If accidently there is some mistake it will result in horrible reality. According to the Marathi proverb, we would be in a state of “Bubble Fire”. So let the doctors and scientist keep experimenting. But until then you have to take care of yourself, there is currently only one way to stay away from Corona. Take care of yourself so that it doesn’t happen, understand all the rules and follow them strictly.
No matter how big and wide the world of medicine is, “WE” are the most important factor in it.
See you in the next part.
Stay tuned…
-Dr.Rushikesh Andhalkar
