The NHRC has constituted an expert committee for framing of some guidelines for clinical drug trials in the country. The Commission took this decision in connection with some cases it registered suo motu on the basis of media reports alleging unethical clinical drug trials in the country. It had received some complaints on the issue as well.
The committee will comprise of the following:-
o Dr. D.C. Doval, Director Research & Director, Medical Oncology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi;
o Prof. Vivekanand Jha, Department of Nephrology, PGIMER, Chandigarh;
o Prof. B.N. Dhawan, former Director, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow and Chairman, Institutional Ethics Committee of Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow;
o Dr. Subhash Yadav, Addl. Professor, Department of Endocrinology & Member Secretary, IEC, SGPGI, Lucknow;
o Dr. Nilima Kshirsagar, National Chair in Clinical Pharmacology, Indian Council of Medical Research;
o Dean, ESI- PGIMER, MGM Hospital, Mumbai.
The NHRC has also decided to intervene in a public interest litigation on clinical drug trials in the Supreme Court.