Whatever the entertainment and artistic merits of the movie "The Constant Gardener," released at the end of last month, the pharmaceutical industry could do without it. A bit of a departure for John Le Carré, the author of the book the movie is based on, it substitutes a villainous pharma industry for the KGB/CIA. Even KVH, the company's three-letter acronym – a sure sign of a bad guy – is retained. KVH has a problem: its tuberculosis drug has side effects that are preventing approval in the West, so it turns to Africa to try to iron out the kinks. Villagers serve as unwilling human guinea pigs, with appalling consequences. For my view of the movie, see http://media.the-scientist.com/blog/display/1/92.