Drug Testing

Drugs are big business. Big companies are developing new medicines all the time to help to fight disease.

Before any medicine can be sold or made available on prescription is has to be tested thoroughly.

This process can take several years but it is important to know how effective the drug actually is and what its side effects are before risking the life of patients.

Drugs are often tested on animals before they are given to humans. Do you think this will provide valuable information?

Many drugs are tested on human volunteers who may get paid for taking the risk. Would you?

What would happen if a drug started to be used that had a very dangerous side effect that had not yet been discovered?

REMEMBER

Scientists are developing new drugs.

When new medical drugs are devised, they have to be extensively tested and trialled before being used.

Drugs are tested in the laboratory to find if they are toxic.

They are then trialled on human volunteers to discover any side effects.