What the newspapers say: December 12, 2010 

Romanians are one of the most wanted guinea pigs for the health sector where American companies test their products. In politics these days, ex-PSD leader Mircea Geoana needs to explain his gesture from the past Presidential elections when he visited media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu before the debate with incumbent Basescu. Last but not least, the foreign press points out that the use of gypsie denomination instead of Rroma will damage Romania’s plans to join Schengen.

Romanians seem to be one of the most wanted guinea pigs for American companies who seek to test their drugs, Gandul reads on Thursday. Russia, Romania and Thailand are the first top three countries where pharmaceutical companies test their products on humans.

Renowned Romanian dr. Ostin C. Mungiu declared for the newspaper that this happens due to a lax legislation compared to the one existent in the US. He said that the sums companies pay for those who accept to act as guinea pigs are smaller in underdeveloped countries than in the States.

According to the newspaper, in 1990 there were only 271 such tests made abroad while in 2008 the number increased to 6,485 according to data obtained by Vanity Fair. According to the Romanian prof. Ostin C. Mungiu, the sum offered for volunteers varies from country to country and from company to company.

In Germany, 15 years ago,a voluntary would receive 200 German mark for 24 hours of testing.

In politics these days, there is a huge scandal involving former PSD leader Mircea Geoana and his visit to media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu just before the Presidential debate with incumbent Basescu in the last Presidential elections.

Evenimentul Zilei reads that the Social Democrats sanctioned Geoana just with the obligation to explain his gesture within the part. Even though most PSD leaders criticized Geoana, directly or not, they nonetheless dismissed the idea to sack him as Senate’s Speaker.

One reason, according to the newspaper is that they might lose the position altogether. PSD vice president Robert Negoita declared that Geoana did not manage to overcome the loss of the elections.

The scandal within the party was triggered by Geoana himself when he declared that it was the current PSD leader Victor Ponta who advised Geoana to lie about his visit at Vantu. Due to these attacks, Ponta decided to ask for Geoana’s dismissal from the party.

Romania libera quotes daily British The Guardian who claims that if the Parliament approves the initative of PDL Deputy Silviu Prigoana’s draft law to replace the word Rroma with Gypsie, the move will have a detrimental effect on Romania’s plans to join Schengen.

The British publication warns that the attempt of the Romanian businessman to reinstate the word gypsie, to replace that of Rroma, might send a wrong international signal that Romanians are prejudiced, which would not help in negotiations for Schengen.

The initiative, the newspaper reads, received the support of the Presidency, of the Romanian Academy and the government but is not endorsed by the Justice and Culture ministries. The British newspaper admits that even though there are 1.5 million Rroma in Romania who are marginalized, their rights slowly increased.