By
NICK
PARKER,
EMMA
MORTON
and
JACQUI
THORNTON
A
VOLUNTEER
who
escaped
the
drug
test
disaster
told
last
night
how
he
saw
six
healthy
young
men
turn
into
wailing
wrecks
within
minutes.
Human
guinea
pig
Raste
Khan
—
who
did
not
know
he
had
been
given
a
harmless
placebo
in
the
test
—
said
it
was
like
a
horror
film
unfolding
before
his
eyes.
The
23-year-old
TV
technician
added:

The
test
ward
turned
into
a
living
hell
minutes
after
we
were
injected.
The
men
went
down
like
dominoes.
First
they
began
tearing
their
shirts
off
complaining
of
fever,
then
some
screamed
out
that
their
heads
felt
like
they
were
about
to
explode.
After
that
they
started
fainting,
vomiting
and
writhing
around
in
their
beds.
It
was
terrifying
because
I
kept
expecting
it
to
happen
to
me
at
any
moment.
But
I
felt
fine
and
didn’t
know
why.
An
Asian
guy
next
to
me
started
screaming
and
his
breathing
went
haywire
as
though
he
was
having
a
terrible
panic
attack.
They
put
an
oxygen
mask
on
him
but
he
kept
tearing
it
off,
shouting
‘Doctor,
doctor,
please
help
me!’
He
started
convulsing,
shouting
that
he
was
getting
shooting
pains
in
his
back.
Last
night
two
of
the
victims
were
still
fighting
for
life
in
Northwick
Park
Hospital,
North
West
London,
while
the
other
four
were
listed
as
“seriously
ill”.
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| Victim
...
Ryan
Wilson
wanted
trial
cash
to
take
his
mum
on
hol
|
The
head
of
trainee
plumber
Ryan
Wilson,
21,
is
three
times
its
normal
size
and
his
limbs
are
purple.
Doctors
said
his
chances
of
survival
were
slim.
Another
victim,
a
28-year-old
Asian
man,
was
said
to
“look
like
The
Elephant
Man”.
A
frantic
global
race
to
find
a
“cure”
was
launched
yesterday.
The
patients’
blood
was
being
filtered
every
HOUR
in
a
bid
to
remove
any
possible
toxins.
And
homicide
cops
from
Scotland
Yard
were
drafted
in
to
probe
whether
any
negligence
or
deliberate
tampering
with
the
drugs
was
involved.
The
six
affected
were
among
eight
volunteers
taking
part
in
clinical
trials
for
the
American
Parexel
research
company.
Two
were
given
placebos
for
comparison
purposes.
The
others
were
injected
with
a
new
drug
called
TGN
1412,
being
tested
for
German
firm
TeGenero.
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| Forms
...
papers
outlining
doomed
trial
to
volunteers
|
It
is
an
anti-inflammatory
agent
makers
hoped
would
become
a
lucrative
treatment
for
rheumatism,
leukaemia
and
multiple
sclerosis.
The
drug
has
passed
tests
on
animals
but
Monday’s
session
at
the
hospital
was
the
first
time
it
had
been
tried
on
humans.
The
trial
group
was
made
up
of
one
Englishman
—
Ryan
—
four
Asian
Brits,
two
Australians
and
a
South
African.
They
were
each
being
paid
Ł2,000
plus
Ł30
a
time
for
11
follow-up
checks.
Raste,
of
Roehampton,
South
West
London,
said:
“We
all
turned
up
on
Sunday
and
slept
on
what
looked
like
a
private
ward
before
being
given
the
drugs
in
the
morning.
We
had
needles
inserted
in
both
arms
with
valve
devices
so
they
could
inject
drugs
and
take
blood
for
tests.”
Raste
said
four
men
in
smart
suits,
who
he
assumed
were
from
the
drug
company,
mingled
with
nurses
and
kept
tabs
on
the
test.
But
they
“made
themselves
scarce”
as
it
all
went
wrong
and
the
victims
were
rushed
into
intensive
care.
The
girlfriend
of
the
unnamed
28-year-old,
who
runs
a
London
bar,
told
last
night
how
he
had
taken
part
in
trials
before.
And
he
volunteered
for
the
one
at
Northwick
Park,
a
complex
which
also
includes
St
Mark’s
Hospital,
“to
help
mankind”.
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| Agony
...
loved
one
Myfanwy
|
Myfanwy
Marshall,
35,
described
him
as
“completely
gorgeous,
really
buoyant,
oozing
with
charm
and
really
muscly.”
But
last
night
he
had
changed
beyond
recognition.
The
girlfriend,
who
saw
him
in
hospital,
said:
“He
was
completely
lifeless,
like
a
shell.
“He
can’t
even
move
his
eyelids.
This
machine
is
pumping
out
his
lungs
and
his
face
is
puffed
out
like
The
Elephant
Man.
A
day
ago
he
was
fine
and
now
they
are
saying
he
could
die
at
any
moment.”
She
added:
“The
doctors
say
they
are
in
the
dark
because
they
don’t
know
the
drug
or
what
it
can
do.
They
don’t
know
what
they
are
dealing
with.”
Parexel
yesterday
sent
blood
samples
from
the
victims
to
the
US
for
urgent
tests.
And
TeGenero
flew
in
20
German
doctors
from
its
HQ
in
Wurzburg
to
see
the
patients.
Britain’s
watchdog
body
the
Medicines
and
Healthcare
products
Regulatory
Agency
sent
out
alerts
to
counterparts
in
Europe.
The
homicide
cops
are
liaising
with
health
chiefs
to
ascertain
if
any
crime
has
been
committed.
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...
Paraxel
research
firm
HQ
near
London
|
A
senior
source
said:
“Should
any
of
the
volunteers
die,
this
could
become
a
manslaughter
inquiry
or
—
at
the
very
worst
—
murder.”
TeGenero’s
chief
scientific
officer
Thomas
Hanke
said:
“The
investigation
must
proceed
quickly
into
these
shocking
developments
in
the
testing
of
a
new
medicine,
which
showed
no
signs
of
any
safety
problems
in
previous
testing.”
Victims
will
be
able
to
sue
despite
signing
consent
forms
if
medics
did
not
act
reasonably,
lawyers
said.