Freelance journalist Jeanne Lenzer's piece in Slate, "Drug Secrets: What the FDA Isn't Telling," is important.
An excerpt: "The use of trade-secret laws to conceal deaths and serious side effects linked to drugs has the obvious flaw of putting profits before public health. It also subverts the covenant between researchers and study volunteers. Subjects... are told that even if they do not personally benefit from a new drug, the scientific knowledge gained from the study in which they've participated will benefit others. The volunteers should be told instead that scientists will learn about their experience only if it's good news for the drug they're helping to test."
Read the rest.
Posted by schwitz at September 27, 2005 08:48 AM | TrackBack