Government seeks report on clinical trials

HYDERABAD: The State government on Friday found itself in an embarrassing situation in the wake of reports that a pharma company had conducted clinical trials on women from Piduguralla.First, a team led by Ranga Reddy District Medical and Health Officer Jaya Kumari raided the office of Axis Clinicals Limited at Miyapur and found that one of the women had indeed been used as a guinea pig to test a drug.The officials seized the lab for not obtaining relevant permission from local authorities.Later, though, the government woke up to the fact that it had no real powers to crack the whip on such labs. The lab in question was registered with the Central Drug Control Administration for conducting clinical trials in 2009. The raids were conducted following a preliminary investigation.Nonetheless, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy directed the officials of the health and medical department to probe and submit a report within 24 hours.Health Minister DL Ravindra Reddy said drugs tested on the victims were not life threatening.“Legally, the State government has no role in the entire episode as the issue is under the purview of the Central government. We will submit a report to the Central government after receiving the report from the AP Drug Control Administration,” he said.