Cashing in on the unemployment of the rural masses, the pharmaceutical laboratories have lured many youth from Jammikunta mandal to volunteer to become ‘Guinea pigs’ to undergo clinical drug trials by paying ₹8,000 to ₹20,000 per sitting. A week ago, Chiliveri Ashok Kumar of Kothapalli village in Jammikunta mandal reportedly turned insane and was roaming on roads without reason. The family eventually found some documents that revealed to them that Ashok was undergoing clinical drug trial with a laboratory in Bengaluru. Suresh was working in catering agency in Hyderabad where he was lured by a middleman to undergo clinical drug trial in Hyderabad. Suresh told the police that several youth from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were undergoing clinical trials with various labs in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai.

Source: The Hindu December 03, 2017 17:37 UTC