Some like to say that people have “right” to participate in clinical trials. People have a right to proven care, not to experiments. Trials are risky for subjects, which is often the whole point of doing the trial. A new review shows the extent.
In a survey of 739 international drug trials published between 1996 and 2002, University of Nottingham researchers found that 71 percent reported adverse events, with 20 percent reporting serious adverse events. Nearly 40 percent reported adverse drug reactions, with 11 percent reporting severe adverse drug reactions. Six were terminated early because of drug toxicity; subjects died in 11 percent of the trials. In two of those trials, the deaths could be attributed to the experimental drug.
And these, dear readers, were trials that might have been expected to minimize risks, for the subjects involved were all children.
See more here.
