Placebo Controlled Trials: Interests of Subjects versus Interests of Drug Regulators
Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences
; : 1-4, 2017.
Article
in En
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-627116
Responsible library:
WPRO
ABSTRACT
The use of placebo-controlled trials in situations where established therapies are available is considered ethically problematic since the patients randomised to the placebo group are deprived of the beneficial treatment. The pharmaceutical industry and drug regulators seem to argue that placebo-controlled trials with extensive precautions and control measures in place should still be allowed since they provide necessary scientific evidence for the efficacy and safety of new drugs. On the other hand, the scientific value and usefulness for clinical decision-making may be much higher if the new drug is compared directly to existing therapies. As such, it may still be unethical to impose the burden and risk of placebo-controlled trials on patients even if extensive precautions are taken. A few exceptions do exist. The use of placebo-controlled trials in situations where an established, effective and safe therapy exists remains largely controversial.
Full text:
1
Database:
WPRIM
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Ethics
Language:
En
Journal:
Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article