The past two decades have seen the emergence of third world countries as important sites for drug trials and related clinical research sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. As the authors of the report under review have noted, “fast recruitment of trial participants, presence of a broad spectrum of diseases, availability of human resources and technical skills, different ethnic responses to drugs and the availability of treatment naïve population” are powerful drivers of thisphenomenon. In addition to such off-shoring, the authors have also drawn attention to outsourcing of trials to clinical research organisations (CROs). Considering the potential for abuse of rights and ethical deviations, such a study of this phenomenon was a pressing need.