DISINFO: Woman dies in Mariupol after clinical trial by Western pharma
SUMMARY
A woman has died at a Mariupol hospital after taking drugs for arthritis she had received from Ukrainian doctors who were testing them in the interests of Western pharmaceutical companies. The doctors told her in 2012 that they had only Western drugs. She got worse and died several weeks later. She did not sign an informed consent form. There have been many similar stories.
RESPONSE
This is a manipulative case of pro-Kremlin disinformation about biological laboratories in Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries. The seemingly neutral article about the death of a patient alleges that she died only because the doctors intentionally gave her a Western drug instead of a Ukrainian one and that they did it because they served the interests of Western pharmaceutical companies. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
All clinical trials are approved by Ukraine's Health Ministry (Order 690), conducted according to protocols and strictly regulated by both Ukrainian and international health authorities. They are all supervised by pharmaceutical companies, the Health Ministry and hospitals' ethics committees. Patients mandatorily sign an informed consent form in which all possible risks are enlisted. Patients are insured and receive compensation in case of an adverse reaction. If a patient's safety is jeopardised, the companies and the Health Ministry consider termination of the study. If a patient dies during a trial, a thorough investigation is conducted and their relatives receive compensation. All adverse effects are followed up and closely studied.
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