Botched drug trial victim goes into 'meltdown'.

Botched drug trial victim goes into 'meltdown'. :

"The 20-year-old was the most seriously ill of the six men who took part in the drugs trial aimed at treating multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and leukaemia.

He says he could need to stay in hospital for six more months as his condition is monitored, after suffering multiple organ failure and blood poisoning."

Without the human guinea pigs, no drugs can be readied for the general market. This case, which I blogged about before, of the six men being so seriously ill after offering to trial the drug for MS, is a terrible tale. Bad enough that they have MS, to have such severe complications from the trial is tragic. There is always a risk with new therapies and drugs. The worst thing about modern medication is that the side effects are not clearly understood by patients. The side effects are often side lined. We do have some drugs which have helped people enormously. Even the Thalydomide drug which caused deformities in children has found to be useful in the treatment of something else, but those children with the little arms and legs will find that cold comfort. How are we to know? How are we to be able to keep the human guinea pigs safer? Many drugs have cause some pretty severe side effects for users, all which were known but not clearly identified. Some of the drugs available for mental illness do improve wellbeing and behaviour in the short term but in the long term can have serious effects on white blood cell counts, cardio vascular wellbeing, weight. We are going to have to be even more careful with our trials and peole are going to have to be vigilant with regard to knowing ALL the effects of the medication they are on. Solving one problem to provide you with others really isn't treatment. Some people end up on such a cocktail of medication and that cannot bode well for their liver and kidneys. So what are we to do? Care, care and more care. We do have some good medications. They have stood the test of time. It's the festine lente message again...hasten slowly and check, check and double check. In the meantime, my thoughts are with Ryan Wilson and his family. He is only 20 and was brave enough to trial something for the possible benefit of all. He is paying too high a price and it's so sad.