| Subject: | [YouthGAS_Exchange] Retractable Syringe trial putting young people at risk | | Date: | Wednesday, September 1, 2004 20:51:55 (+0800) | | From: | Network Against Prohibition NT <napnt @...........au>
|
Media Alert
1st September 2004
Retractable Syringe trial putting young people at risk
Injecting drug users, including young people, will continue to be put at risk by
Michael Wooldridge’s trial of Retractable Syringes in Australia’s Needle and
Syringe Programs.
The trial of Retractable Syringes at Sydney’s Kirketon Road Centre is set to
continue after the ethics committee overseeing the trial dismissed a complaint
into the conduct of the trial.
The Darwin chapter of the Network Against Prohibition submitted a complaint on
the 17th of August to the Human Research Ethics Committee of the South Eastern
Sydney Area Health Service outlining major concerns about the trial.
The concerns included the fact that volunteers in the Trial are being asked to
test this experimental medical device on themselves, without adequate supervision
or facilities and that the private company conducting the trial, the Research
Forum, failed to warn participants of possible harms associated with injecting
drug use such as vein collapse, complications associated with injecting into
arteries, "dirty hits'', impact on the immune system, overdose and the risk of
arrest and incarceration by police.
Trial documentation reveals that there are no safeguards to prevent young people
from participating in the trial or accessing these experimental retractable
syringes when they inevitably find their way onto the streets.
In their complaint, The Network Against Prohibition argued that the trial
breaches the Nuremberg Code, drawn up in 1946 during the Nuremberg Trials, in
which 23 Nazi physicians went on trial for crimes committed against prisoners of
war.
Professor Terry Bolin, chairperson of the ethics committee, told NAP that the
committee “agree that the study is not in breach of the Nuremberg Code” and that
“The Committee feel that no further investigation is necessary and therefore no
action will be taken in this matter.”
NAP Spokesperson Gary Meyerhoff said “We are appalled that the ethics committee
have not taken our concerns seriously. The trial of retractable syringes is being
conducted at the behest of business interests, including Ritract, the Australian
company lucky enough to have former health minister Michael Wooldridge on its
staff.”
Meyerhoff said “We will continue in our attempts to have this dangerous profit
driven trial abandoned and to have the corrupt Michael Wooldridge brought to
justice.”
The Network Against Prohibition will be asking the ethics committee to review
its decision and will also lodge a complaint with the Therapeutic Goods
Administration.
Complaints will be lodged with the ethics committee that approved the Victorian
component of the trial. Retractable Syringes are being trialled at two locations
in Victoria; Melbourne Inner-city Needle Exchange (MINE) in Collingwood and
Southern Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS Resource & Prevention Service (SHARPS) in Frankston.
For more information or to arrange an interview call NAP’s Gary Meyerhoff on
0415 16 2525 or the chairperson of the ethics committee Professor Terry Bolin on
(02) 93823587.
Further information on Retractable Syringes can be found at:
_______________________________
Network Against Prohibition NT
Po Box 701
Parap 0804
Northern Territory
Australia
Phone: 61 (0)8 8942 0570
Mobile: 61 (0)415 16 2525
Email: napnt@bigpond.net.au
Web: http://www.napnt.org
Proudly supporting Darwin Independent Media
http://darwin.perthimc.asn.au
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