M. Krishnan Nair (doctor)
Encyclopedia
M. Krishnan Nair is a leading oncologist working in India
. He is the founding director
of the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, a director of the S.U.T. Institute of Oncology in Thiruvananthapuram
(Trivandrum) and a professor
at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research
in Kochi
. He received the Padma Shri
award from the President of India
.
(Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology) from the University of Punjab in 1968. In 1972, he earned a FRCR (Clinical Oncology) from the Royal College of Radiologists
in London
.
, Pain and Palliative Care
, and Paediatric Oncology for the first time in India. He was a member of the expert group that drew up the National Cancer Control Plan of India. He served the World Health Organization
(WHO) for more than a decade in their Expert Advisory Panel on Cancer
. Currently, he is the only member from India on the Advisory Committee of the Director General, WHO and Cancer Technical Group (CTG) of WHO.
He introduced for the first time an institution oriented and extremely inexpensive Cancer Insurance
plan in India called Cancer Care for Life. He established five district-level peripheral centres for prevention and early detection and a pain relief and palliative care network with Morphine
availability for terminal
cancer patients.
He implemented a 10-Year Action Plan in Kerala
which reduced tobacco consumption, improved early detection, enhanced therapy facilities, and provided palliative care and pain relief to substantial sections of dying cancer patients. This programme finds mention in IARC
(Managerial Guidelines for NCCP (2002), World Cancer Report (2003)), and WHO documents.
He has assisted the World Health Organization as Consultant
in several major workshops and meetings such as design modification of teletherapy machines 1992, preparation of managerial guidelines for cancer control 1994 and 2000, preparation of pain and palliative care guidelines 1994, the Cancer Technical Group meeting 2005, and the Cancer Advisory Group meeting 2005. He has served as the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre (No.130) since it was established until his retirement in November 2003. He has served as the Short-term Consultant in IARC three times and is a visiting scholar in Allegheny General Hospital
, Stanford University
, and University of Southern California
.
Nationally, he has served as President
, Association of Radiation Oncologists of India, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Indian Council of Medical Research, and Member of the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology of the Department of Atomic Energy of India. He has done an exhaustive study on human
health effects of background radiation
in coast
al areas of Kerala.
Nair has also published more than 300 papers in the field of medicine
.
conducted a series of drug trials on 26 patients.
This was a theme for a documentary for BBC.
Quote from Frontline (2001). (see external links):
"AFTER a four-month-long inquiry, the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has stated what was already quite obvious: that the controversial experiments at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram were indeed the first human trials of the potentially anti-cancer chemicals developed at the Hopkins Biology Laboratory; that those chemicals had not been properly tested in animals before they were tried out on patients at the RCC; that the Biology Professor who conducted the experiments was not qualified or authorised to do experiments involving human subjects; that she did not have the mandatory approvals from the university's institutional review boards authorised to make ethical clearances; that she did not have the U.S. government's approval to export the chemicals used in the trial to India; that the clinical trial conducted at the RCC did not meet the standards for research with human subjects; and that adequate and proper consent was not obtained from the patients before they were made part of the experiments.
On November 12, JHU announced the much-awaited findings of the inquiry by its faculty investigative committee into the "drug" trial conducted on 26 cancer patients at the RCC between November 1999 and February 2000.
A statement issued by the JHU Office of News and Information said (significantly, without naming the Biology Professor concerned, Dr. Ru Chih Huang) that "one of its scientists" tested experimental cancer drugs on patients in India "without required federal or university approvals and without adequate preliminary tests in animals".'
However Dr. Krishnan Nair, as the Director of the Institute in India, denied the ethical misconduct even after the report came from Johns Hopkins. This case is one of the study materials in Public Health classes in majority of universities in Europe and USA. The Indian Government as well as the Institute (RCC) never admitted any wrong doing even after the media repeatedly exposed the pain and sufferings of patients who participated in the study. It may sound strange that Dr. Krishnan Nair was honored with Padmashree (one of the highest honors in the country) in the midst of this controversy.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He is the founding director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, a director of the S.U.T. Institute of Oncology in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
(Trivandrum) and a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research
Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre
The Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre is a ISO 9001:2000 certified and NABH accredited private medical college near Edapally in Kochi, India.It is a1450 bedded Hospital,...
in Kochi
Kochi (India)
Kochi , formerly Cochin, is a major port city on the west coast of India by the Arabian Sea. Kochi is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. Kochi is often called by the name Ernakulam, which refers to the western part of the mainland Kochi...
. He received the Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
award from the President of India
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
.
Education
Nair earned his MBBS degree from University of Kerala, India in 1963, then went on to earn a MDDoctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology) from the University of Punjab in 1968. In 1972, he earned a FRCR (Clinical Oncology) from the Royal College of Radiologists
Royal College of Radiologists
The Royal College of Radiologists is the professional body responsible for the specialty of clinical oncology and clinical radiology throughout the United Kingdom. Its role is to advance the science and practice of radiology and oncology, further public education and set appropriate professional...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Work in India
As founding director of RCC, he was responsible for establishing one of the largest comprehensive cancer centres in India and for initiating programmes in Community OncologyOncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
, Pain and Palliative Care
Palliative care
Palliative care is a specialized area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients...
, and Paediatric Oncology for the first time in India. He was a member of the expert group that drew up the National Cancer Control Plan of India. He served the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO) for more than a decade in their Expert Advisory Panel on Cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Currently, he is the only member from India on the Advisory Committee of the Director General, WHO and Cancer Technical Group (CTG) of WHO.
He introduced for the first time an institution oriented and extremely inexpensive Cancer Insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
plan in India called Cancer Care for Life. He established five district-level peripheral centres for prevention and early detection and a pain relief and palliative care network with Morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
availability for terminal
Terminal illness
Terminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient within a short period of time. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as...
cancer patients.
He implemented a 10-Year Action Plan in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
which reduced tobacco consumption, improved early detection, enhanced therapy facilities, and provided palliative care and pain relief to substantial sections of dying cancer patients. This programme finds mention in IARC
International Agency for Research on Cancer
The International Agency for Research on Cancer is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organisation of the United Nations....
(Managerial Guidelines for NCCP (2002), World Cancer Report (2003)), and WHO documents.
He has assisted the World Health Organization as Consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
in several major workshops and meetings such as design modification of teletherapy machines 1992, preparation of managerial guidelines for cancer control 1994 and 2000, preparation of pain and palliative care guidelines 1994, the Cancer Technical Group meeting 2005, and the Cancer Advisory Group meeting 2005. He has served as the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre (No.130) since it was established until his retirement in November 2003. He has served as the Short-term Consultant in IARC three times and is a visiting scholar in Allegheny General Hospital
Allegheny General Hospital
Allegheny General Hospital is a large urban hospital located at 320 East North Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Allegheny General Hospital, also known locally by the acronym "AGH!", is located in the Central Northside neighborhood of Pittsburgh...
, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, and University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
Nationally, he has served as President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
, Association of Radiation Oncologists of India, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Indian Council of Medical Research, and Member of the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology of the Department of Atomic Energy of India. He has done an exhaustive study on human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
health effects of background radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
in coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
al areas of Kerala.
Nair has also published more than 300 papers in the field of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
.
Illegal drug trials controversy
Between November 1999 and February 2000, while Dr. M. Krishnan Nair was serving as the director, the RCC in association with the Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
conducted a series of drug trials on 26 patients.
This was a theme for a documentary for BBC.
Quote from Frontline (2001). (see external links):
"AFTER a four-month-long inquiry, the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has stated what was already quite obvious: that the controversial experiments at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram were indeed the first human trials of the potentially anti-cancer chemicals developed at the Hopkins Biology Laboratory; that those chemicals had not been properly tested in animals before they were tried out on patients at the RCC; that the Biology Professor who conducted the experiments was not qualified or authorised to do experiments involving human subjects; that she did not have the mandatory approvals from the university's institutional review boards authorised to make ethical clearances; that she did not have the U.S. government's approval to export the chemicals used in the trial to India; that the clinical trial conducted at the RCC did not meet the standards for research with human subjects; and that adequate and proper consent was not obtained from the patients before they were made part of the experiments.
On November 12, JHU announced the much-awaited findings of the inquiry by its faculty investigative committee into the "drug" trial conducted on 26 cancer patients at the RCC between November 1999 and February 2000.
A statement issued by the JHU Office of News and Information said (significantly, without naming the Biology Professor concerned, Dr. Ru Chih Huang) that "one of its scientists" tested experimental cancer drugs on patients in India "without required federal or university approvals and without adequate preliminary tests in animals".'
However Dr. Krishnan Nair, as the Director of the Institute in India, denied the ethical misconduct even after the report came from Johns Hopkins. This case is one of the study materials in Public Health classes in majority of universities in Europe and USA. The Indian Government as well as the Institute (RCC) never admitted any wrong doing even after the media repeatedly exposed the pain and sufferings of patients who participated in the study. It may sound strange that Dr. Krishnan Nair was honored with Padmashree (one of the highest honors in the country) in the midst of this controversy.
Positions held
- 1965-68 LecturerLecturerLecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
, Medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala, India - 1969-1971 Assistant ProfessorProfessorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, Medical Colleges, Kottayam / Trivandrum, Kerala, India - 1971-1973 Associate Professor, Medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
- 1975-1981 Professor of Clinical Oncology and Radiotherapy Medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
- 1981-2003 Director, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
- 1 February 2004-to date Professor of Clinical Oncology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Kochi, Kerala, India
- February 2004-to date Director and Consultant Clinical Oncologist, SUT Institute of Oncology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Honors and awards
- Member, Expert Panel on Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO)
- President, Association of Radiation Oncologists of India 1984-1986
- Member, Governing Body, Regional Cancer Centre, Guwahati, Assam, Calcutta, and Bangalore
- Member, National Cancer Control Programme Core Committee, 1981–1985
- FellowFellowA fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Indian College of Radiology (FICR) - Founder Fellow of the Indian Medical Science Academy (FIMSA)
- Pasupathy Nath Wahi Cancer Award 1988
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Sandoz Oration Award in Cancer Research 1989
- Vimala Shah Award of the Banaras Hindu University 1991
- PK Haldar Memorial Oration of association of Radiation Oncologists of India
- Bhishmacharya Award of outstanding contribution in the field of Medicine, 1993
- Leadership Award by Trivandrum Management Association 1994
- Dorab Tata Oration Award (1996) by Indian Society of Oncology
- Roll of Honour (1996) by International Union Against Cancer (UICC), Geneva
- Dr.L.H.Lobo Memorial Oration 1997 by Dr.L.H.Lobo Memorial Trust, Ludhiana
- Padma Shri Award by Government of India in 2001