Ethics and vaccine studies - developing countries

[Deborah]

This is a spin-off from the thread on Pampers and the tetanus vaccine.

Vaccines and other drugs are being tested in developing countries. People with first hand experience have explained how difficult it is to translate medical information into terms that make sense to people in other cultures, especially people without a modern education. Is it believable that these vaccine and drug tests are based on true informed consent? If there are doubts, then the resulting drugs are some form of "tainted fruit". In the same way that some people do not want to use vaccines which are based on abortions (even abortions done many years ago), there are probably people who do not want to benefit from drugs or vaccines which are derived from unethical studies on people who cannot give informed consent.

Does it matter how studies are conducted? Would this worry you?

[Scattershoot]

It is common practice now to test vaccines on poor people in other countries. Here's one article of many I have read over the past year.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/...0News/1750553/

From the article:

The study was sponsored by global drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and uses children from poor families, who are "pressured and forced into signing consent forms," the Argentine Federation of Health Professionals, or Fesprosa, said.

"This occurs without any type of state control" and "does not comply with minimum ethical requirements," Fesprosa said.

More from that article:

At least 12 babies who were part of a clinical study to test the effectiveness of a vaccine against pneumonia have died over the past year in Argentina, the local press reported Thursday.

I read another article a few weeks ago about a bunch of homeless people dropping dead right after a "flu" shot somewhere.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Deborah

This is a spin-off from the thread on Pampers and the tetanus vaccine.

Vaccines and other drugs are being tested in developing countries. People with first hand experience have explained how difficult it is to translate medical information into terms that make sense to people in other cultures, especially people without a modern education. Is it believable that these vaccine and drug tests are based on true informed consent? If there are doubts, then the resulting drugs are some form of "tainted fruit". In the same way that some people do not want to use vaccines which are based on abortions (even abortions done many years ago), there are probably people who do not want to benefit from drugs or vaccines which are derived from unethical studies on people who cannot give informed consent.

Does it matter how studies are conducted? Would this worry you?

Absolutely it matters to me and worries me.

[Proverbs31]

I feel that everyone has a fundamental right to understand the risks and benefits of the procedures being done to them, (ie. if it is unknown whether a vaccine can cause birth defects, then they have a right to that information). What muddies the issue is if the intervention is the most viable means of protection at this point in time; what happens if a mother is given appropriate information and, despite the potential benefits, declines the intervention because she doesn't want to take the risk?