An investigation by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch has exposed unauthorised clinical trials being conducted on poor and unemployed residents, including women, at two city-based research centres. Participants were reportedly given experimental drugs for cancer, mental health, and other serious diseases without proper consent or safety measures.
Investigators said illiterate and financially struggling people were lured with cash to take part in these trials at Veda Clinical Research Pvt Ltd and Lambda Therapeutic Research Pvt Ltd. Agents, paid commissions for each recruit, allegedly picked up participants from working-class areas and took them to the facilities.
Poverty driving unethical trials
While Gujarat is known for its booming pharmaceutical industry, the probe has revealed how poverty and joblessness are being exploited. Unlike abroad, where participants are well-compensated and protected by strict rules, India’s poor are driven by financial desperation—making such testing cheaper for companies.
The Crime Branch found that some participants had joined up to 20 drug trials, far exceeding the ethical limit of two or three per year. Those who experienced side effects received only minimal treatment and were sent home without compensation or follow-up.
In one reported case, Sarkhej resident Afzal Ajmeri said his health worsened after joining multiple trials for small payments. Middlemen allegedly recruited poor and uneducated people—many of them women—without explaining the risks. Experts warned that weak regulation and high unemployment have turned Gujarat into a centre for unethical and unauthorised drug testing.
While participants earned ₹10,000–₹15,000 per trial, doctors said repeated exposure to experimental drugs could cause severe health problems, including chronic illness, deformities, or paralysis.
Consent and safety rules ignored
Investigators found that consent norms were openly violated. Instead of obtaining informed consent, staff took thumbprints of illiterate participants on forms that freed the companies from liability. Video recordings were also made without permission, breaching privacy and ethical standards.
The rising number of women in these trials has raised further alarm. Most had little or no understanding of the health risks or their right to legal redress in case of harm.
AMC urges crackdown
Following the revelations, the Amdavad Municipal Corporation’s health department has written to the state Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA), seeking strict action against the two research centres and stronger monitoring to prevent such exploitation.
The findings have sparked widespread concern over ethics and accountability in Gujarat’s pharmaceutical sector, underscoring the urgent need for tighter oversight and regulatory transparency.