[SaneVax: It appears the most effective immunity vaccines offer is the immunity from prosecution. The Indian government investigation into the alleged ethics violations occurring during demonstration projects which were halted after allegations made by multiple medical professionals and local advocates have apparently come to a conclusion. The government response was simply a warning letter asking PATH to promise to be more careful next time. This is not an acceptable ‘solution’.]
Government warns PATH
By Aarti Dhar, The Hindu
The Union Government has issued a warning letter to Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), asking it to be careful while conducting clinical trials so as to ensure that discrepancies and violations are not repeated in future.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had suspended the Phase-V post licensure clinical trial being conducted by PATH, an international non-governmental organisation, in Khamman (Andhra Pradesh) and Vadodara (Gujarat) for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine. The ICMR and the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat were the collaborating partners for a cervical cancer prevention vaccine. However, there were allegations that trials were conducted on schoolgirls in the tribal districts and in violation of the consent rules. As many as 14,091 girls received the vaccine in Andhra Pradesh and 10,686 in Gujarat. The vaccines were donated by Merck & Co., Inc. (Gardasil) and GlaxoSmithKline (Cervarix).
The violation came to light when seven girls who received the vaccine, died following which the ICMR suspended the trial on April 7, 2010.
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