Mumbai: The Supreme Court has ordered the Centre to respond to a public interest litigation against unethical clinical trials within the next four weeks.
The PIL, filed in 2012 in the SC by health activist group Swasthya Adhikar Manch, came up for hearing on Friday.
The PIL said unethical clinical trials in India continue despite new rules that were passed in 2019 and many issues are yet to be addressed.
The PIL noted those related to criminal action against sponsors and investigators, unethical clinical trials on Bhopal gas victims and other incidents in Indore, Jaipur and other parts of the country.
Clinical trials are tests that are conducted on healthy volunteers or patients and are essential to secure regulatory approval of newly researched medicines or vaccines.
