WhatsApp groups trap people for clinical trials

​Hyderabad: The Supreme Court banned unethical clinical trials on humans after it was reported that several millions died and others fell seriously ill.

In spite of the ban and the guidelines issued by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, the clinical trials have been going on rampantly throughout the country using latest technology to mobilise the victims.

By gate-crashing into some of the WhatsApp groups, The Hans India unearthed the unscrupulous practices of some pharma labs which have been recruiting ‘volunteers’ through these groups.

The WhatsApp groups with the names like BloodMoney, BombayBoys, MumbaiFriends, PureIndianBoys, NandaGroup, MeraLog among others have been active in recruiting ‘volunteers’ for the clinical trials.

There are a number of agents who run these WhatsApp groups and they charge huge amounts of commission from the pharma labs to supply ‘volunteers’ who are given only a pittance.

The Hans India (THI) joined one of such groups and contacted one Avinash (Mobile No 8108692869) who claimed to be the agent of Vimta Labs based at Charlapalli on the outskirts of the city.

THI asked Avinash for details stating that after going through BloodMoney group, it was learnt that there was requirement of volunteers for tests to be conducted by Vimta Labs.

Avinash told THI that 45 volunteers are needed for tests. He said that it was no problem even if the hemoglobin content was low. THI was advised to take Atrin85 tablets to overcome hemoglobin problem. THI was asked to contact at 6 pm to know the place where he could be met.

Another agent Sandeep (Mobile No 7506048123) of Sitec Bhandup Labs told THI that they need 58 volunteers. He said that he would send message regarding the honorarium to be paid to the volunteers.

Agent Raju (9222418808) of Mumbai-based Alkem Labs told THI that even if the volunteers went to another lab last week for some other tests they would be recruited without any problem.

He said that he need not worry over the rule that there should be 90 days gap between two tests. Raju told THI that they need 40 volunteers who should come for screening every Tuesday for 23 weeks. They would be paid Rs 13,600, he added.

Raju said that even if the volunteer is polio-affected it was okay. He angrily reacted when asked for more remuneration stating that it was not a charitable trust but only a private lab.

There are 96,000 pharmaceutical companies throughout the country. However, a handful of them control the 90 per cent of the market.

Throughout the country there are 84 clinical trial labs at various places in the country to conduct tests on volunteers. Barring a few, most of them are concentrated in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana.

There are eight clinical trial labs in Hyderabad run by Vimta Labs, QPS Bioserve India, Spra Lab, Clinsion Lab, Axis Lab, Yanclor Lab, Agent Lab, Actimas Lab. One of the victims of these tests, Suresh, shared with The Hans India that each testing centre is using at least 25,000 volunteers without bothering about the after-effects.

These clinical labs maintain utmost secrecy in their functioning. The volunteers are not informed about the drug and its effects. Once they enter the premises, they seize their mobiles.

They collect blood at least 25 to 30 times after administering the medicine to know the reaction. They would be asked to come again next week and again the same procedure would be followed.

The volunteers have to sign documents on the dotted lines without even reading it since they are given only five minutes to look at them.

In essence, the agents who supply these volunteers to these clinical trial centres would be given huge commissions. These agents induce the poor people to earn some money. Anyway the volunteers are paid only Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per session.