The conditions of four of six men who reacted violently to an experimental drug in London were reportedly improving Thursday, but two remained critically ill.
Eight men were part of the trial at a research unit at the Northwick Park Hospital, and six were given the drug, known as TGN1412, and two others were given a placebo. The drug is intended to fight leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
However, one of the men who was given a placebo, Raste Khan, 23, told The Sun he watched the six others when they started to scream in agony, vomit and faint.
"It was terrifying because I kept expecting it to happen to me at any moment. But I felt fine and I didn't know why," Khan told the newspaper.
Doctors told the family of one of the victims, 21-year-old Ryan Flanagan, he could not breathe and his head and neck had swollen to three times normal size.
The trial was immediately halted, and an international advisory was issued to prevent further testing.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
