In the 80s of the last century, Western pharmaceutical companies tested drugs on patients in the hospitals of the then German Democratic Republic, without them being notified, the German daily Tagesspiegel reported, referring to archival documents.
"We have documents on contracts that Western pharmaceutical companies made with GDR institutions on drug testing," said a worker of the German National Archives, which partially confirmed the writing of the paper.
More than 50 Western manufacturers signed contracts with the then East German health ministry for 165 drug tests between 1983 and 1989, the German newspaper writes.
It is estimated that the tests could have brought in a profit of 860.000 German marks, which were a highly valued foreign currency in the then communist East Germany.
Medicines were tested by groups such as Bayer, Schering, Hoechst (today merged with Sanofi), Boehringer Ingelheim or Goedecke (today Pfizer).
The paper states that patients were often not informed about the testing.
German regional broadcaster MDR, which also investigated the issue, cited the case of 60-year-old patient Gerhard Lehrer, who was being treated in intensive care at a Dresden hospital in 1989.
He received "special" medicines, which were not on the market at the time, but then his condition worsened.
His wife saved a few pills and subsequent tests revealed that he was receiving a placebo for a study commissioned by the Hoechst company.
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