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Raising an issue
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The Laboratory raises pertinent questions on the ethics of clinical trials
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Photo K Ananthan
In progress Shivani Tibrewala’s play The Laboratory
At the outset, we are told that it is the story of a young medical student disillusioned with the profession; her father who physically abuses his wife; and her mother who is made a guinea pig by a pharmaceutical bigwig.
The play, The Laboratory, was organised by PSG IMS & R, as part of the ICMR-NIH long-term training programme of bioethics.
No props
The audience witnessed an interesting set up when the curtains went up: there were no costumes, no props; just a neat lineup of men and women seated on chairs. We learnt it was a play-reading session, and each one donned a character.
Joy Fernandes aspires to be a doctor. However, with a drunkard for a father it seems a distant dream, till her mother, Mary, finds a solution. Unknown to Joy, Mary, for Rs. 30,000, volunteers for a clinical trial at a pharmaceutical firm, whose head honcho is Joy’s uncle Ralph Fernandes. What she does not know though, is that one of the side effects of the drug she is testing for could lead to heart failure. And, eventually it does.
Just before Mary’s death, Joy learns of the medication and the clinical trial. Meanwhile, the firm distributes medicines to tsunami victims. Through her journalist boyfriend Arjun, Joy learns that those medicines do not meet World Health Organisation standard and is banned in most countries. Further, they are also known to cause severe side effects. When she discovers that her idol Dr. Pereirais behind this, a disenchanted Joy, who also loses her father (arrested for domestic violence), ends her life.
The play lucidly portrayed how illiterate Indians were exploited and raised pertinent questions on the ethics behind clinical trials. As for the reading, it was near flawless, but Joy (read by Shivani Tibrewala who wrote and directed the play) and Joseph Fernandes (performed brilliantly by Utkarsh Majumdar) take home the applause for perfect rendition. Tom Alter too was part of the cast.
When one of the audience asked why Joy had to end her life, Shivani replied that that was the only way to get others agitated about the core issue. Shivani, who comes from a family of doctors, says that the play aims to create awareness on the right of the public to know about and put an end to unethical clinical trials.
W. SREELALITHA
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