Veteran Foreign Reporter Fights for Justice Over Medical Injury

A veteran British foreign correspondent says he is stranded in Australia after suffering life-changing injuries as a result of being “tricked” into taking part in a medical study.

Robert Cockburn, who has worked for The Times and the BBC, among others, is now retired and has self-released a documentary about his experiences of taking part in a medical trial: Breathtaking: Crimes in Human Research.

He claims that taking part in the study has restricted his mobility and left him unable to leave his house.

Cockburn took part in a 2018 asthma study conducted by the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research at the University of Sydney.

As part of the study, two devices were installed in his home.

After using one of the devices, he says, he was left “flattened, dazed, unable to breathe properly.” He says he was later diagnosed with a breathing disorder, migraines, and high blood pressure.

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He believes he was not adequately informed about the experimental nature of these devices and possible side effects.

In 2019, Cockburn initiated a formal clinical trial under the leadership of then Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) Chief Executive Dr Teresa Anderson.

He says the investigation found that the study’s disclosure statement omitted certain information that ideally should have been included.

Cockburn believes the investigation has not gone far enough and believes there is a “media blackout” in Australia surrounding his case.

He told Press Gazette: “No one has been held to account. No public health warnings have been issued to the thousands of ordinary people who volunteered to test medical products.

“For five years, the Australian media, apart from one article in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, have dismissed this story, even though I fully documented it and the public should have been warned. The volunteers taking part in the trials are still unaware of the dangers.

“It was a very difficult film to make, not least because I have to wear sunglasses most of the time and I can’t go out when it’s over 22 degrees Celsius. I think I’ve made the scariest film in Australia as far as the medical device trade is concerned.”

Cockburn said mobility problems and limited funds prevented him from returning to the UK.

The Woolcock Institute said in a statement: “Woolcock has cooperated with every stage of the investigation into this matter and with all formal inquiries conducted over five years.”

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