Fertile Ground

Insider loves a trip to the cinema (or, as our cousins across the pond so quaintly call them, "the movies"). He also loves gardening.

So imagine his delight when he saw that a John Le Carré novel called "The Constant Gardener" had been adapted for the big screen!

To prepare himself, Insider decided to take a peek at the book first. What a treat, but, sadly, no gardening.....!

But what of the movie?

To see the trailer, go here:

http://www.killermovies.com/c/theconstantgardener/

This is a delicious film that is likely to linger in your mind and may even trouble your conscience (and we all have a conscience - deep down - dont we). It certainly troubled Insider, which is only right and proper, as the underlying theme of the film, as that of le Carré's novel, is the uneasy, divided conscience of the West when regarding the Developing World.

The plot line of The Constant Gardener couldn't be more timely. Big Pharma is outsourcing increasing numbers of clinical trials outside the United States and Europe. Not for humanitarian reasons, but for reasons of cost containment and speed of recruitment.

Across Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, the sick are abundant, desperate and often more trusting, and so recruitment into clinical trials is often rapid and fees paid to researchers much less than those in the West.

As one of Insiders' colleagues once commented: "patients in developing countries are so much more willing to be guinea pigs."

All well and good, you might say, if the trials are conducted to the same standards and ethics as those conducted in the West.

Well, that's a big "if"! Take a look at these links for yourself and then reconsider:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18301

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-12-14-aids-drug_x.htm

http://wid.ap.org/documents/nevirapine2.html

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1128780722456S533

Incidentally, dont take the book with you if you decide to go on safari, as it is both set in and banned in Kenya!