The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Medical Council of India on a petition seeking judicial intervention into allegations of clinical trials of untested drugs being conducted on patients, mostly poor, without taking their prior “informed” consent. A PIL taken up before a Bench of Justices R M Lodha and H L Gokhale said these drug tests are prevalent because laws are not being implemented strictly by the government and its agencies, providing pharma companies with a loophole.