WHO
demands disclosure of all clinical trial results
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[April 15, 2015]
LONDON (Reuters) - The World Health
Organization called on Tuesday for the release of clinical trial results
for all drugs, vaccines and medical devices - whatever the result - in
the latest salvo against the withholding of data.
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Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director general at the United Nations
health agency, said failure to disclose trial results led to
misinformation and could result in skewed priorities for research
and public health interventions.
"It creates indirect costs for public and private entities,
including patients themselves, who pay for sub-optimal or harmful
treatments," she said.
In recent years, the pharmaceuticals industry has gone a long way to
commit to disclosing results for new clinical studies, but critics
argue it is still not doing enough to ensure doctors have access to
all drug data.
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The WHO also wants disclosure of older unreported clinical trials,
the results of which may still have an important bearing on medical
practice and scientific research today.
Ben Goldacre, a British doctor and author who has led a campaign
urging full disclosure, said the WHO statement was "powerful and
welcome" but required practical implementation, for example through
routine audits to identify completed but unreported trials.
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(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by David Evans)
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