CAIRO: Kasr El Aini public hospital is one of Egypt's leading educational institutions and media allegations that it conducts illegal medicine on patients without their consent are unfounded, Dr. Hani Mohamadi, professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Cairo University and vice dean of Kasr El Aini medical school told Daily News Egypt. Mohamadi s statement came in response to a petition filed by Akram Al-Shaaer, member of the People s Assembly (PA), accusing Kasr El Aini hospital of postponing the investigation into the practices of six doctors who were testing new medication on unknowing patients. Mohamadi denied the case involving these doctors even existed. This accusation should have been supported by evidence, he added. What type of research is the petition talking about and under which department? he asked. He told Daily News Egypt that any research conducted in the hospital is supervised by the hospital s ethics committee which, according to him, follows international standards. He explained that the safety procedures to screen any new treatment include three phases. Once the medicine is approved as legal, it is tested on animals then volunteers, with their full awareness and consent. In the third and final phase the university conducts more long-term trials to make sure it has no dangerous side effects, Dr. Lamis Ragab, professor of Pediatrics and vice dean of postgraduate studies and research at Cairo University told Daily News Egypt. We are required to get permission from the Ministry of Health before we conduct any type of testing, Ragab said, emphasizing that these three phases are standard procedure all over the world. In Egypt we do not produce medical drugs, Mohamadi pointed out. He said that the first two testing phases are done in the country that produces the drug while Kasr El Aini hospital only executes the third phase to ensure that it works well with Egyptians in the long term. These tests are only conducted after the approval of the Ministry of Health. Those patients who agree to test the new medication have the right to withdraw at any time, Ragab said, stressing that the process is "100 percent legal.
