Watchdog hits out after hospital drug trial disaster

THE British Government’s drug watchdog yesterday criticised the firm behind a disastrous drug trial which left six men seriously ill.

Research firm Parexel failed to follow some correct procedures and made errors over contracts and patient records, Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in its final report into the incident earlier this year.

But, it said, the adverse reaction in the men was most likely down to an “unpredicted biological action of the drug in humans”. The MHRA reached the same conclusion in its interim report.