RCC probe report before Cabinet

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 18. The State Cabinet is expected to consider at its next meeting the report of Dr. Purvish Parikh Commission which probed alleged clinical tests of a banned drug by the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) here on unsuspecting cancer patients, official sources said.

Sources confirmed that the commission submitted the report to the Principal Secretary, Health, three weeks back but refused to divulge the contents.

``The report is before the Council of Ministers. Also, the Assembly is in session. The Cabinet is expected to consider it and make it public,'' when asked about reports in a section of the press here that the probe had found that the drug in question was not banned in the United States as alleged by two RCC doctors.

A premier cancer treatment and research institute, RCC has for the last few months been in the midst of a controversy after the two doctors lodged a complaint before the State Human Rights Commission alleging that a derivative of banned Nor Hidro Guaretic Acid was tested on patients as part of a research programme in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University of the United States.

Dr. Parikh, a Mumbai-based medical oncologist, was appointed by the UDF Government to inquire whether the tests involved banned drugs or violation of medical ethics.

- PTI

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Section  : Southern States
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