Research injury in clinical trials in South Africa.

This editorial comments on clinical research with vulnerable populations in South Africa. The Network of Chairs of South African Human Health Research Ethics Committees believes that the pharmaceutical industry has accepted its responsibility for research injuries, but the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have not. A statement from the informed-consent document used by an NIH-sponsored clinical trial is mentioned. The authors suggest that research sponsors provide insurance against research injuries in developing countries.