Harmful trials
THIRTY-EIGHT students of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, were used as guinea pigs for trials of a colon cancer drug containing a radioactive element since December 1996. The shocking discovery was made recently when some students complained of headaches, body-aches and stomach pains. Three students had also developed problems in the urinary and digestive tracts. The students had given an undertaking before the trials that they were "volunteering for the experiments-. They were told that there would be no side-effects.
The Andhra University project sponsored by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the University Grants Commission, had sought to find out the thickness of the coating of the gaur gum (a herbal agent) required to release the actual drug in the colon. The radioactive drug containing sodium chloride was included in the formulation which was used for the trials on the students. The vice-chancellor of the university has set up an inquiry committee and also promised that the university would provide health insurance to the students if it was proven that their illness was a direct outcome of the experiment.
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