Wired 14.03: A Nation of Guinea Pigs

Just after I post my sentimental paean to the noble clinicians and researchers, this article in Wired 14.03: A Nation of Guinea Pigs appears to bring me back to earth. Don't get me wrong, what I said still holds true, but medicine generally and biomedical research suffer the same cultural biases as anyone else.

My wife and I were in Peru visiting our daughter, who works for a tiny NGO servicing the needs of a 170-year-old community of dirt-poor farmers and artisans. We stopped in the clinic there to see what was going on. They are not a clinical trials site, but the article echoed something they said. They don't have generally treat any diseases that can be cured by on-patent pharmaceuticals. They treat children suffering the effects of malnutrition and neglect, abrasions, contusions, wound infections up to and including gangrene, the occasional broken bone, a lot of spouse and child abuse, some hepatitis, and snake or scorpion bites.

What do they need most? They need band-aids, compress bandages, splints, lots of OTC drugs, antibiotics, and a 55-gallon drum of Betadine. Among other things. Oh, and also jobs for their female patients whose husbands have abandoned them, and for the out-of-work teenagers and young men, and they don't need international agribusiness dumping heavily subsidized GMO corn, wheat and rice on the market so they can't sell any of their crop for the cash they need.

Maybe they could benefit from becoming a clinical trial site, heaven knows it would help out their finances. But it's a devil's bargain at best.