MNCs use Indians as guinea pigs for drugs: Expert

Nagpur: Patients in India have to bear the brunt of high costs of medicines manufactured mostly by the multinational pharmaceutical companies. In the absence of any laws and regulations India has to buy medicines at rates decided by these companies.
Dr Satish Tiwari, medico-legal consultant from Amravati, said the pressure of companies didn't end here. In fact, Indian patients, children or adults, are all treated as guinea pigs in drug trials. This needs to end, he said. Dr Tiwari was in city for the national annual conference of Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), Nagpur branch.

He said it was the responsibility of government to cap the medicine prices. It should also monitor the quality of drugs and prevent Indians from being guinea pigs. "Companies say they spend huge money on research and trials on Indian population. The truth is they do not try out the medicines on their own population as the rules there are very strict," he said.

"Why are Indian companies like IDPL not being revived? Why are our people being made guinea pigs," Dr Tiwari asked.

He also raised issue of government pressuring private practitioners but not corporate doctors. He said government told private practitioners to display their rates on the boards but this was not applied for corporate sector. "We are not against displaying rates. We are against government making rules only for small and single specialist hospitals. This will gradually kill small nursing homes," he said.

"Government has no right to cap individual doctors fees. These fees cannot be fixed as every doctor charges based on his experience and expertise. Government cannot fix charges for procedures as they too differed depending on the situation and the equipment and medicines used in emergencies," said Dr Tiwari.