Why It Is Bad News That Most Clinical Trial Findings Don’t Get Published

While it is important to have all the facts available when it comes to clinical trials, there are a number of reasons that many clinical trial findings do not end up getting published.

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Why unpublished trials are a problem

The problem with this is that the important information contained in these trials could be used to help a doctor or pharmaceutical services provider make wise decisions. When the results and outcome of the data cannot be studied and scrutinized, patients could suffer.

The Reasons Some Clinical Trial Findings Are Never Published

Why some trial results are never published

One big reason a clinical trial finding never reaches publication is that the people doing the research either end up taking on a project that they deem more important or they simply lose interest in the project. This could be because the results they are getting are not that interesting to them, even though the data might still be important.

Another more serious matter that sometimes determines why a particular clinical trial does not have published results is that the results are not satisfactory to the researcher, and the companies that are funding the research decide that they do not want the results to be made public. This is a particularly disturbing possibility because it makes one wonder exactly what they are trying to hide. This is not the case with all clinical trials; some are totally transparent with their findings, such as G and l scientific and others. However, it does happen and the public has the right to know.

Is there hope for more transparency?

Hope for Finding Clinical Trial Results

When it comes to studies done with children, the clinical trial results have to be published at ClinicalTrials.gov. While this is a step in the right direction, these results from the clinical trials are simply a gathering of raw data and the bare essentials when it comes to any type of real information.

This is a law when it comes to studies involving children, but the pharmaceutical industry gets a special kickback for testing drugs in children simply because it accelerates research into illnesses in kids. This is all public information that should be made available to everyone. When everyone gets on board and shares all of the data that is available, true progress can be made in the medical field.

Summary

This article explains why many clinical trial findings never get published, including researchers losing interest or moving to other projects, and funders sometimes preferring not to release unfavourable results. It notes that trials involving children must be published on ClinicalTrials.gov, but argues this only provides raw data rather than full analysis, and calls for wider data sharing across the industry.

Questions this article raises

• How often are unfavourable clinical trial results deliberately withheld?
• Why are only child-focused trials required to publish on ClinicalTrials.gov?
• What would it take to make full data-sharing standard across all trials?