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Twenty-five years after it killed thousands of people in Bhopal, there has been no research into the effects of the deadly methyl isocyanate gas, and a call for research proposals earlier this year has met with a lukewarm response
Though the gas methyl isocyanate (MIC) killed 8,000 people and left many thousands more with a legacy of various illnesses and genetic defects, no research has been conducted into the deadly gas that leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, on December 3, 1984, in the worst industrial disaster on record. In January 2009, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) finally invited research to study the effects of the poisonous gas, but 11 months later it has received only two proposals. The research is to focus on genetic disorders, low birth weight, congenital malformations, growth/developmental disorders, and biological markers of MIC exposure. It was ordered by the central government. Lack of research into MIC means that the line of treatment for patients remains essentially the same as on the day of the disaster, when nothing much was known about MIC. “Two generations of victims exposed to MIC have been indiscriminately prescribed antibiotics, steroids and psychotropic drugs to ‘manage’ their ailments instead of finding a cure. No focused research has been conducted in developing an antidote to cyanide poisoning,” said D K Satpathy, who retired as director of the Medicological Institute in Madhya Pradesh. Shockingly, to this day, 25 years later, no one can say for certain what the effects of MIC are because of the total lack of research. No autopsy studies were conducted either. So, though the prevalence of cancer among women affected by the gas is three times the national average, no one can say for certain why this is so. ICMR set up the Bhopal Gas Disaster Centre immediately after the disaster to monitor the health effects of exposure to MIC. But in 1992, the Centre stopped monitoring mortalities and in 1994 it was shut down. The findings of whatever research it conducted -- if any -- between 1984 and 1994 were never published. Even the composition of MIC is unknown as Union Carbide claimed it was a ‘trade secret’. It initially recommended sodium thiosulphate as a detoxifying agent, but it was given to only 500 patients before being withdrawn. Dr Satpathy says it was an effective treatment but its effectiveness proved that the gas had broken the blood-lung barrier. Union Carbide was afraid that this finding would increase the amount of compensation it would have to pay; hence its doctor said he was mistaken about its effectiveness. In view of the lukewarm response to ICMR’s call for researchers, the council has decided to keep the call for proposals open until it gets more submissions. Source: The Indian Express, December 3, 2009
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