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LY DD © oF VEN? CANADIAN SCIENTISTS FORCED TO APPROVE UNSAFE DRUGS lhe Canadian Government's Health Protection Branch is once again the centre of contro- versy, with six of its scientists charging they have been pres- sured to approve drugs of ques- tionable safety. Activists from the Sierra Club and the Council of Canadians held a news conference recently (16 September), to publicise a case about which scientists are under Health Department orders not to talk to the media. "The department scientists are being forced to approve drugs not safe for animal and human con- sumption," said Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians. She called for a public investigation of the branch, saying drug companies now provide 70 per cent of its financing and have too much influence over the drug- approval process. Many of the scientists’ concerns centre on bovine growth hormone, a genetically engineered drug manufactured by Monsanto, which increases milk produc- tion in dairy cattle. The drug is banned in Europe and is the subject of immense con- troversy on both sides of the Atlantic. (Source: —LifeSaveln@aol.com, 18 September 1998) The Sky-Eye is said by its promot- ers to have a margin of error of just 150 metres. (Sources: The Telegraph, London; SMH Online; 7 October 1998) CANADIAN PRISONERS USED AS TEST SUBJECTS anadian prisoners were used as human guinea pigs in question- able medical experiments conduct- ed for more than a decade, the Ottawa Citizen reports. An investigation by the Citizen and Southam News discovered that inmates of federal prisons were commonly used as test subjects throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. The research was sponsored by drug companies, universities and the federal government, the news- paper reported Saturday (26 Sept.). The tests involved hundreds of male and female prisoners. They were given unproven pharmaceuticals, were subjects in sensory-deprivation research, and were involved in pain studies employing electric shocks. Recent revelations of similar experi- ments performed in the United States two decades ago were met with public furore. (Source: Vancouver Sun, 27 Sept. 1998) SKY-EYE TO BUST KIDNAPPERS ie dignitaries who fear being kid- napped are having microprocessor devices planted in their bodies so police can track them down if they are abducted. The microchips, called Sky-Eyes, were originally developed by Israeli researchers for intelligence use, and are sold by a com- pany called Gen-Etics. They are said to be made of "synthetic and organic fibre", and reportedly run on such a small amount of energy that it can be "borrowed" from the human body. The chip is supposed to be invisible to the naked eye and to X-rays. US PRESSURE ON UK TO GROW ENGINEERED CROPS ill Clinton has personally intervened with Tony Blair to try to stop Britain from halting the controversial production of genetically engineered/modified foods. The US President telephoned the Prime Minister during the (northern) summer to try to persuade him that genetically modi- fied (GM) crops, worth millions to the US economy, would not be bad for Britain. Sources close to the Government say that the US President has been pressing Blair to support commercial production of GM crops in Britain, despite growing con- sumer opposition. Consumer and environmental groups including English Nature, the Government's wildlife advisers, want the Government to introduce a moratorium on growing such crops commercially in the UK for at least three years. France and Austria have temporarily banned the growth of genetically modified food until more is known about its effects on the environment. _ THE CHARSES orl \ THESE Thies ARE _ GETTING To BS NGMYROER, __ 6 = NEXUS DECEMBER 1998 - JANUARY 1999