Clinical trails in foreign countries

Pharmalot explores the benefits of clinical trials in China:

Running a trial in China may cost as little as 15 percent of what a company would pay in the West, says Reenita Das, Asia-Pacific health care vp at Frost & Sullivan. Vital Therapies, which makes artificial livers, says a trial costs about $15,000 per patient, versus $50,000 in the US. The decision to run tests in Beijing is “a no-brainer,” says Terry Winters, the company’s chairman. “China beckons.”

It is getting pretty close to the point where it is hardly considered to do clinical trials in the US first, we're not quite there, but we're headed that way as it becomes easier and easier to do them elsewhere for cheaper. You're generally losing some quality and adding some more risk, but if you plan your trials well, you can minimize this. Its not just the third world, my company corresponds with doctors in Europe and you have to be clear when sending them unapproved devices that you don't want them trying them out. This is not a bad thing, if carefully done, off shore clinical trials benefit everyone involved.