The Med Terrorists

'Big pharmaceuticals are right up there with the arms dealers. ' says a character from the film, The Constant Gardener.

It's a brilliant film, highlighting the not-so-savory business practices of the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry.

Experimental drugs are being tested illegally on the poor natives of Africa and some drugs,inspite of obviously needing more research and redesigning, are being used on HIV +ve natives - singled out during 'free' health checkups - just to save 'precious' time and money.

One needs to check the cost of lives in third world countries - a dime a dozen for the pharma bigges,it would seem.

And it was shocking to read of the increase of clinical trials in India - it seems that a clinical boom is on the horizon and it is projected that 'nearly $2 billion worth of clinical trials will end up in india by 2010'.

For a lay person,it would genuinely seem celebratory but I wonder if it's just the human guinea pigs that is of interest to the pharma giants.

The Constant Gardener has opened my eyes to this form of bio-terrorism of sorts, all under the guise of 'research' and 'free medical aid' and shallow goodwill.

How governments,researchers,powerplayers,aid workers - all are manipulated or else 'taken care of' - like Tessa Quayle, the human rights activist who was brutally murdered because she fought for the rights of the African natives and threatened to expose the such trials in Africa.

Her husband Justin Quayle ,a diplomat stationed in Africa, loved her and supported her but never really understood her work.
He preferred to spend time in his garden,creating a safe world around himself, was rudely jolted into reality,was forced out of his complacency after the murder of his wife and had to face the lies and corruption and poltics to ensure that his wife did not die for nothing.

His search unearths a few very unpleasant hometruths and he manages to expose the huge conspiracy at the cost of his own life..

It was a very moving and disturbing film and I can almost see the script being played out again under the Indian sun this time round.

A TOI article calls India a 'prime location' because it has 'the world's largest patient pool'.
In my opinon that just translates to availability of patients who are illiterate,needy,poor and ignorant of their rights.

There alreay are many cases where trials have failed with serious consequences,even deaths of patients and no doubt, our lax regulatory policies and unscrupulous drug companies waiting to exploit the loopholes, make the risk of allowing clinical trials in India exponential.

Here's hoping that the judgement of the powers that be is not clouded by the multiple $$$ signs or else like Africa, we'll end up with a beautiful landscape tainted with human blood.

The Templar Legacy

Another book on the lines of The Da Vinci Code -riddles,clues,cryptexes..get the drift - this is work of fiction about the hunt for 'The Great Devise' and the Templar treasure, is still entertaining.

I liked it because the start was set in Copenhagen,one of my favorite cities, and because I like medieval history..

'The brethren,the masters of the Temple,
who were well filled and ample
with gold and silver and with wealth.
Where are they now? How have they fared?
Who had such power that none dared
take ought fromt hem,no man so bold:
forever buying,they never sold.'

A medieval French verse aptly describes the overly solvent Templars and their sudden disappearance.

This book also states the possibility that the Shroud of Turin,which holds enormous religious symbolic importance to Christians around the world, was that of the 22nd and last Master of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, Jacques de Molay(1314).
What irony!

It's a pity I did not make time to see it(purely as a medieval artifact!) when I was in Torino a few years ago..