GlaxoSmithKline Fined for the Killing of 14 Babies

Judge Marcelo Aguinsky decided to fine GlaxoSmithKline Argentina Laboratories, a subsidiary of the worldwide pharmaceuticals giant, with 400,000 pesos ($92.500 dollars) for the killing of 14 infants during illegal vaccine trials conducted in Argentina.

The country does not allow medical tests of this nature to be conducted on human beings, and yet the company decided to conduct its researches regardless. The way in which it went about doing this broke a number of Argentinian laws. The experiments took place between 2007 and 2008.

Aguinsky ruled in favor of the state after a report issued by the National Administration of Medicine, Food and Technology (ANMAT). The documents revealed the way in which the company conducted its illegal lab vaccine trials starting 5 years ago.

In addition to the company, doctors Héctor Abate, and Miguel Tregnaghi – GSK employees – were fined about 300,000 pesos (69.400 dollars ) each for the role they played in the experiments and tests.

Some of the charges that the state brought against the three defendants included falsifying parental authorizations and illegal experimentation on human beings. A total of 15,000 children were a part of the studies GSK conducted in Argentina.

All test subjects were recruited from poor, often illiterate families. Seven of the babies who died were from Santiago del Estero, 5 from Mendoza; and 2 from San Juan. These were the cities from which the bulk of participants were selected, the Buenos Aires Herald reports.

“GSK Argentina set an protocol at the hospital, and recruited several doctors working there. These doctors took advantage of many illiterate parents whom take their children for treatment by pressuring and forcing them into signing these 28-page consent forms and getting them involved in the trials,” Ana Marchese said.

The pediatrician, who made the announcement during a recent radio interview on the issue, was working at the Eva Perón children's public hospital in Santiago del Estero, when the study began. She is the one who reported the case through the Argentine Federation of Health Professionals (FESPROSA).

“Laboratories can't experiment in Europe or the United States, so they come to do it in third-world countries,” she said. Countries such as Colombia and Panama have also been selected by GSK to conduct similar studies.