Western drug companies tested pharmaceuticals on more than 50，000 people in the former communist East Germany， often without the knowledge of patients， several of whom died， the Spiegel news weekly reported.
西方製藥公司在前共黨東德對逾5萬人測試藥物，病患往往不知情，造成其中數人亡故，「明鏡」週刊報導。
Some 600 clinical trials were carried out in more than 50 hospitals until the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall， the report said， citing previously unpublished documents of the East German health ministry， pharmaceutical institute and Stasi secret police.
Many major drug companies from Germany， Switzerland and the United States took part， offering up to 800，000 West German marks （about 400，000 euros） per study， a boost for East Germany’s underfunded health care system， Spiegel said.
Records showed that two people died in East Berlin during testing of Trental， a drug that improves blood circulation developed by then West German company Hoechst， which has since merged with Sanofi， the report said.
Two more patients died in a lung clinic near the city of Magdeburg in tests of a blood pressure drug made by Sandoz， which has since been taken over by the Swiss group Novartis， according to Spiegel.
Patients were often not fully informed about the possible risks and side effects， the weekly said. Other tests involved preterm infants and a group of alcoholics suffering acute delirium who could not give informed consent. （AFP）