Patients 'betrayed' by Canadian researchers, advocate says of clinical trial probe
CTV
A shocking study found that only three per cent of Canadian human research trials testing new drug treatments or therapies meet all three international criteria.
A shocking study found that only three per cent of Canadian human research trials testing new drug treatments or therapies meet all three international criteria that ensure fair and timely sharing of results for all to learn from.
Its authors say the look at whether these trials are properly registered, with results reported and formally published, serves as a clear warning that researchers may be wasting millions of dollars of funding, along with patients’ time and effort.
"Our data shows that there's basically no public record of many trial results... I think it's (scary) really," said Kelly Cobey, a co-author of the study, associate professor at the University of Ottawa and researcher at the university's Heart Institute.
The study, published in the journal Facets, reviewed some 6,720 clinical trials conducted in Canada between 2009 and 2019, all of which were listed on a public database. Some were conducted in Canada alone, while others had international collaborators.
An estimated 612,000 Canadian patients were involved, testing out treatments for conditions like diabetes, cancer, asthma, and multiple sclerosis, among others, along with the safety and effectiveness of new medical devices.
The question posed by the research team was to determine how many followed the World Health Organization guidelines from 2015, which specify that: clinical trials must be registered before they begin to ensure they follow a pre-planned design; that key findings are made publicly available within a year of the study’s completion; and that the results are published in a journal at most two years after completion, "regardless of the outcome."
Of the Canadian trials studied, however:
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