New Delhi, 7th February, 2013

The National Human Rights Commission today issued a notice to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, returnable in four weeks, on a complaint alleging that three big government hospitals in Delhi conducted illegal clinical drug trials on 3479 children during the last five years. These include 2056 children at Safdarjung Hospital, 1023 children in Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and 400 children at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital.

The complainant Mr. R.H. Bansal, a representative of an NGO, in his petition to the NHRC has claimed that he got the information about the number of children subjected to clinical trials under RTI. He also alleged that parents' approval was not taken for subjecting their children to clinical trials which is an illegal and punishable act. The clinical drug trials also violated the human rights of the innocent children.

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