Health activists have strongly opposed the draft guidelines brought out by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on the quantum of financial compensation to be paid in case of clinical trial-related injury or death, saying age and income could not be the lone criteria for calculating the amount.

The draft guidelines, put up on the CDSCO website for comments, say that for assessing compensation, the age and income of the deceased and the seriousness and severity of the disease the subject was suffering from at the time of his or her participation in the trial should be taken into consideration. It has also suggested a formula for calculating the amount.