OostDuitse dokters indertijd door westerse bedrijven omgekocht

It wasn't just the East German government that benefited from risky patient drug trials commissioned by Western pharmaceutical manufacturers decades ago. These companies also sent liaisons with lavish gifts to bribe and influence doctors to participate.

The presents always came in the springtime. When the representatives of Western pharmaceutical companies arrived at the Leipzig Trade Fair, they made sure that East German doctors were very well looked after.

One doctor enthusiastically described his experiences in a subsequent report to the Ministry of State Security, or Stasi. According to his account, things would get off to a cheerful start every morning at the booth run by Pfizer subsidiary Merrimack Pharmaceuticals: "There was champagne on the table, along with a carton of cigarettes, and the usual cosmetic products for my wife."