Because Social Media increases Awareness and brings the DES Community Together
On Tuesday 2 Oct 2012, Dr Ben Goldacre, Author, Doctor and Journalist, did an interview with Metro about his book Bad Pharma, why his is a big believer in ritual and why he goes to huge lengths to make sure what he says is correct.
Read Too many People die due to Distortions in medical Science
Doctors need the evidence to make informed decisions about medicines
From trainee to consultant, BMJ Group offers doctors around the world tailored information, special events, learning resources and recruitment services at every step along their career path. The AllTrials campaign asks for all trials to be registered and their results published. John Castellani says mandatory disclosure could affect patient privacy, stifle discovery, and allow competitors or unscrupulous actors to use the information. Ben Goldacre says we need the evidence to make informed decisions about medicines.
Read Are clinical trial data shared sufficiently today? No
by Ben Goldacre, The BMJ, Published 9 July 2013
All Trials Registered, All Results Reported
A committee of MEPs will soon vote on proposals that could increase transparency of clinical trials. However, there are 350 lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry at the European Parliament and MEPs are now hearing their arguments against transparency every day. We have until 29th May to make sure they hear our arguments.
The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament, which is made up of 67 MEPs from 22 countries, is currently scrutinising the Clinical Trials Regulation. On Wednesday 29th May they will vote on changes to the regulation. There are proposals on the table that could greatly increase clinical trial transparency and would mean that all clinical trials for medicines licensed in Europe would have to be registered and the results reported.
Click here for Email addresses and sample letters to write to MEPs
On International Clinical Trials Day, the NIHR promotes its “OK to ask” campaign
International Clinical Trials Day is celebrated around the world on or near the 20 May each year, to commemorate the day that James Lind started his famous trial on the deadly disease scurvy. It provides a focal point to raise awareness of the importance of research to health care, and highlights how partnerships between patients and healthcare practitioners are vital to high-quality, relevant research.
On International Clinical Trials Day, the NIHR promotes its “OK to ask” campaign to encourage patients and the public to ask medical professionals about clinical research.
Why researchers MUST publish ALL results of clinical trials
” South Africans participating in clinical trials should demand that results are published ” says Cochrane Collaboration founder Sir Iain Chalmers.
” Much of the world’s clinical research was wasteful and failed to tackle issues that were most important to patients ” Sir Iain told delegates at a conference hosted by the Medical Research Council (MRC).
” Worse still, only 50% of the research was published, which meant doctors and patients were left in the dark about possible side effects, concealing evidence of potential possible harm from doctors and patients alike ” he said.
How the scientific method works, and what to look for when presented with so-called “evidence”
How do we know if a treatment works, or if something causes cancer? Can the claims of homeopaths ever be as true – or as interesting as the improbable research into the placebo effect? Who created the MMR hoax? Do journalists understand science? Why do we seek scientific explanations for social, personal and political problems? Are alternative therapists and the pharmaceutical companies really so different, or do they just use the same old tricks to sell different types of pill? We are obsessed with our health. And yet – from the media’s ‘world-expert microbiologist’ with a mail-order PhD in his garden shed laboratory, via multiple health scares and miracle cures, to the million pound trial that Durham Council now denies ever existed – we are constantly bombarded with inaccurate, contradictory and sometimes even misleading information. Until now. Ben Goldacre masterfully dismantles the dodgy science behind some of the great drug trials, court cases and missed opportunities of our time, but he also goes further: out of the bulls—, he shows us the fascinating story of how we know what we know, and gives us the tools to uncover bad science for ourselves.
Ben Goldacre is Britain’s finest writer on the science behind medicine, and Bad Science is the UK Sunday Times top ten bestseller
Website – Audible – Amazon – Reviews
” … today consumers are angry at big business and demand more in terms of transparency and social responsibility … we have an industry that is leaking badly in consumer trust and every time they plug one leak another one pops open… ”
Read 10 ways pharma can improve its image
by Richard Meyer, Aril 30, 2013, World of DTC Marketing
Related posts: All Trials – Ben Goldacre – Big Pharma
The AllTrials campaign next steps announced, 2013
The AllTrials transparency campaign says it is at a crossroads and is looking to take the next step into becoming a larger force against the restriction of clinical trial data by pharma. It continues: “There are many who hope that AllTrials will fizzle out and go away, as previous efforts have done – what happens next is up to all of us.
We need your help to grow internationally, and to push for a decisive and permanent change.”
Read more information and see how you can help
Around half of all clinical trials have not been published; some trials have not even been registered. If action is not taken urgently, information on what was done and what was found in trials could be lost forever, leading to bad treatment decisions, missed opportunities for good medicine, and trials being repeated unnecessarily.
Make all medical research results public
A new campaign All trials registered, all results reported – supported by the Medical Research Council (publicly funded organisation in the UK dedicated to improving human health) – calls for the results of all clinical trials to be made public.
Sir Iain Chalmers, Coordinator of the James Lind Initiative, has strong words on researchers who hide trial results and ends his post by saying: “ If action is not taken urgently by research funders and regulators, information on what was done and what was found in trials could be lost forever, leading to bad treatment decisions, unnecessary repetition of trials, and missed opportunities for good medical practice. ”
Read Make all research results public, insight, 4 April 2013.
#AllTrials website and donation site.