Fatal drugs trial: what the French authorities are hiding
On January 17th, 2016, a volunteer died after taking part in a drugs trial in the west of France, while four others suffered suspected brain damage. The company who conducted the trial and supervisory authorities have insisted that the tragedy was “unprecedented” and could not have been foreseen. However, new evidence has emerged that a volunteer in a earlier trial with the same drug suffered side effects and that a later MRI scan shows he suffered a stroke. Yet this information appears to have been concealed by the medical and health authorities. Mediapart's science correspondent Michel de Pracontal reports.
NewNew information casts doubt on the official versions of events surrounding the death of a 49-year-old man from west France during the clinical trial of a drug earlier this year. Guillaume Molinet died on January 17th, 2016, after taking part in the trial carried out by Rennes-based French company Biotrial on behalf of Portuguese pharmaceutical company Bial. Four other volunteers involved in the testing of drug BIA 10-2474 also suffered lesions to the brain.
