In India, Drugs for COVID Are Being Tested, Approved in Ways That Should Worry Us 25/05/2021
Representative photo: analuisa gamboa/Unsplash
Mumbai: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, researchers around the world have evaluated scores of drugs and therapeutic techniques for the disease. Even according to the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI), researchers in the country are testing everything from inhaled camphor and ajwain to Viagra.
This may be desperation, given the brutality of India’s second COVID-19 outbreak. It is also worthwhile in more ways than one to repurpose existing drugs to treat COVID-19.
However, in most cases, a substantial profit motive isn’t too far away. Together with India’s opaque drug regulation apparatus and its propensity to approve substances on little to no evidence – especially during the pandemic itself – these clinical trials warrant a closer look.