Clinical Trials In The Uk Go Drastically Wrong

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Shocking news that 6 Australians undergoing trials for a new drug in the UK are currently in intensive care with life threatening organ failure. There were 8 originally, but 2 of them seem to be OK at the moment.

It sounds like the next of kin of all 6 have been informed. I am sure there will be more to this story in the coming days especially if any of them actually die.

Fingers crossed they all pull through.
 
I did a couple of these 6 years ago. Well paid work and I had no ill effects at all.
 
Apparently the other two men were ok because they only took a placebo. I do feel desperately sorry for those involved but I hope it's not going to put people off volunteering for these tests. Hundreds probably take place daily, with no ill effects whatsoever, and I'd much rather drugs be tested on the humans they are designed for than animals.
 
Originally posted by Griffin@Mar 15 2006, 09:46 AM
I'd much rather drugs be tested on the humans they are designed for than animals.
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I'd rather sacrifice an animal than a human.
 
I did a couple of these for Smithkline Beecham in cambridge and got paid really well.

Maurice, I couldn't agree more with you. Cosmetic testing should not happen but clinical testing is vital to continued development in healthcare
 
On Channel 4 news they said that all drugs have to be tested on animals first for four years before they go on to do clinical trials with humans. So one can only assume that this drug was safe to use in animals otherwise it would have never got anywhere near a human. Bit like thialidomide?
 
I really hope I'm wrong, but I fear that one or more of these young men may actually die as a result of this clinical trial. It does sound, very, very serious.
 
It's a real one-off, by the sound of it. As Griffin correctly says, ALL drugs are tested FIRST ON ANIMALS to make sure they don't get any ill effects. If they do, the drugs are tinkered with until the animals don't. Then VERY TINY amounts of the drugs are administered in human trials first, to see if humans react. If they don't, they get given trial doses at the level the drugs would be used. There seems to be concern that these young men were possibly given too high a dose.

The rules for accepting drugs trials people seem to be very stringent. I went for one once, and when they heard I had asthma, I was turned down - nothing had been said in the advert, but my condition represented a potential problem. The testing procedures seem strict, and it sounds like these were very fit chaps. As was said on the news, the problem is that the doctors are, apparently, working against an 'unknown' reaction which sounds similar to anaphylactic shock, which can affect all the organs and respiratory system very quickly. Let's hope they all come through okay, eventually.
 
The screening procedure is very strict yes, Jon. BP, pulse, EKG, height, weight, stool sample and the like. The medical to see if you are suitable lasted over an hour. I feel dreafully sorry for these young men but they really are the exception to the norm.
 
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