Drug Trial That Went Wrong, The

Synopsis: An investigation into the drug trial performed in at a private unit in London’s Northwick Park Hospital in March 2006 on behalf of a small German drug company. After being given an experimental anti-cancer drug many of the volunteers thought they might die or suffer permanent damage to their immune systems.

With exclusive access to Ryan Wilson, a 20-year-old trainee plumber, one of the most badly affected drug trial "guinea pigs", the film captures the events and the impact it has had on him and other other trial volunteers.

Reporter Brian Deer obtains confidential papers relating to the development of the drug, the way the trial was conducted and the initial treatment Ryan received. He travels to Germany and the US to track down and confront those responsible for the trial.

He pieces together an understanding of what went wrong and asks, as the search for new drugs moves away from chemistry towards biotechnology, whether what happened to Ryan Wilson is a warning for us all.
Series: Dispatches
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 2006
Subjects: Medical sciences
Keywords: clinical trials; drugs testing

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British Universities Film & Video Council