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Clinical drug trials in France:
all too often results not published

All too often, clinical trial results remain unpublished, especially if they do not confirm the authors' premise. Increased transparency is crucial.

Many people agree to take part in clinical drug trials because they believe these trials help to further knowledge and contribute to the general good. However, the results of many clinical trials are not made available to the scientific community.

A study published in 2005 examined the fate of clinical trials registered in France in 1994. Six to eight years later, 62% of the completed research remained unpublished.

The trials whose results were favourable to the drug being tested had a 4.6% greater likelihood of being published than so-called "negative" trials. This "publication bias" gives a false idea of research results.

It is in the public interest for the results of all clinical trials to be accessible. A first step to achieving this would be to make it mandatory for all clinical trials and their protocols to be logged in an international register. A second stage would be to publish the results, both "positive" and "negative".

Let us hope that health authorities press for the transparency that patients and health professionals need.

©Prescrire July 2006

Source: "Essais cliniques en France : trop de résultats non publiés" Rev Prescrire 2006 ; 26 (274) : 533-534.

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