There was chaos at Port Elizabeth’s Livingstone Hospital on Monday as would-be research volunteers flocked to give blood and hair samples, a provincial official said.
Eastern Cape health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said a pharmaceutical research company had announced it would pay R300 for each sample.
”It was chaos. People were promised money and they wanted to get there first. People were running; they wanted to make sure they got their money,” he said.
The researchers turned many people away, but did give them taxi fare, he said.
Kupelo said the company, which he named as Q-Pharm, had apparently been given permission by a hospital official to do the sampling on Livingstone premises, but had not sought clearance from either the hospital’s top management or the department.
An inquiry into the incident would be held.
”If people from any institution want to conduct research, there are proper channels to be followed,” he said.
Q-Pharm is listed on the internet as an Australian-based clinical trials company. – Sapa