Bioethics News

Now, an article about the globalization of clinical trials, published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine raises questions about the ethics and the science of increasingly conducting studies outside the United States — when the studies are meant to gather evidence for new drugs to gain approval in this country. The article, by several Duke University researchers, suggests an ethical quagmire when drugs intended for wealthy nations are tested on people in developing countries.

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Secret e-mails reveal that the UK’s biggest drug company distorted trial results of an anti-depressant, covering up a link with suicide in teenagers. Panorama reveals that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) attempted to show that Seroxat worked for depressed children despite failed clinical trials.

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The British Medical Journal research looked at studies in six areas and found animal studies agreed with human trials in just three. The high-profile London drug trial which left six men ill was carried out after animal studies showed the drug TGN1412 was effective.

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The scientist who first linked smoking to lung cancer was paid by a chemicals firm while investigating cancer risks in the industry, it has emerged.

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The final report into a catastrophic drug safety trial that left six men fighting for their lives in the UK in March 2006 has severely criticised Parexel, the firm that carried out the trial.

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Last week, six very healthy men suddenly wound up in a London hospital in critical condition. Earlier this month, 11 otherwise well people tested positive for tuberculosis, according to Montreal`s health department.

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Seoul National University officially fired disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk on Monday from his position as a professor of veterinary medicine because of his role in faking embryonic stem cell research. The decision was a formality because Hwang resigned from in December after allegations of fraud began to surface.

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