Experiments in Prisons
By Jeffry Fawcett, August 15, 2006 in the Editorials blog
The basic criterion that the FDA uses in approving a pharmaceutical is that it must be shown to be safe and effective. The maker of a pharmaceutical demonstrates that a drug is safe and effective by conducting clinical trials—the so-called gold standard for biomedical research. Until the 1970s, about 90% of those clinical trials were conducted on prison populations. [Read more…]