12:20 AM - (no subject)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGN1412
Ok this "drug test" brings up two issues.
First, regardless if the company thought the drug was safe, they're still responsible for what the drug did to the participants' health. These people do and will continue to have serious health problems. The company at the very minimum should pay for their medical expenses.
Second, if the previous animal tests did not show any problems, doesn't this mean animal testing cannot always accurately predict how humans will react? I mean other primates were given this drug and did have their immune system destroyed yet this occurred for the first time in humans. I think this gives some credit to people who feel animal testing is not the way to test human drugs. Perhaps there should be some serious work in computer simulations of biological systems. I mean if a drug destroys a computer simulation's immune system, it wouldn't be so bad and no one dies over it. Of course I know the complexity of such a system would mean it could take decades to get it right - but why don't people start working on it now?
Ok this "drug test" brings up two issues.
First, regardless if the company thought the drug was safe, they're still responsible for what the drug did to the participants' health. These people do and will continue to have serious health problems. The company at the very minimum should pay for their medical expenses.
Second, if the previous animal tests did not show any problems, doesn't this mean animal testing cannot always accurately predict how humans will react? I mean other primates were given this drug and did have their immune system destroyed yet this occurred for the first time in humans. I think this gives some credit to people who feel animal testing is not the way to test human drugs. Perhaps there should be some serious work in computer simulations of biological systems. I mean if a drug destroys a computer simulation's immune system, it wouldn't be so bad and no one dies over it. Of course I know the complexity of such a system would mean it could take decades to get it right - but why don't people start working on it now?
location: Work
Happy