Geriatric Guinea Pigs

RADIO 4, 11.00AM

Britain’s population needs good treatment for medical conditions that appear and worsen with age. And so emerges a surprising problem. Researchers conduct clinical trials for new medicines on younger volunteers, instead of older patients, despite the fact that each age group’s bodies can react very differently. Geoff Watts, who is in his seventies, presents this documentary exploring how unwell older people have effectively become guinea pigs for therapies that have not been properly tested and asks what’s being done to address it.