Researchers evaluating a random selection of clinical trials done in North America found that they neglected to take into account previous or ongoing trials, which may result in researchers conducting redundant or less impactful studies. The findings were published in the journal Med.
Clinical trials are a crucial tool for assessing the safety and efficacy of medical interventions, but sponsors often provide incomplete information for assessing their ethical justification. Incomplete portrayals of supporting evidence hamper the ability of individuals or authorities to evaluate the trials’ risks, benefits, and scientific merit.
To assess the prevalence of such omissions, researchers accessed the ClinicalTrials.gov registry and evaluated 101 randomly chosen clinical trials. Among those where there was at least one previous trial testing the same drug in the same disease, 30% of industry-sponsored trials and 20% of non-industry-funded trials failed to cite related studies. “Clinical trial protocols undercite easily accessible, relevant trials and do not document systematic searches for relevant clinical trials,” the authors wrote.
“Numerous studies suggest that some clinical trials are pursued despite their clinical hypotheses having been resolved prior to study launch,” write the authors. “Failure to provide a complete and impartial account of prior and ongoing research in study protocols may enable clinical research that fails to inform clinical practice.”
Source: EurekAlert
