A documentary in BBC2′s This World strand, Drug Trials: The Dark Side investigates the murky world of clinical trials carried out in the developing world. Reporter Paul Kenyon travels to India in an attempt to uncover the actions of some of the world’s biggest drug companies. Through a series of interviews with both doctors and patients, it reveals some startling ethical issues from the lack of informed consent to the methodology implemented during a drug trial.
Recruitment of volunteers for clinical trials has become a boom industry in India, giving companies access to "clean" patients that have never before received any medications. Poverty and poor access to healthcare means this is the only chance many of these patients have to access medications.
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