Tom Jefferson is an epidemiologist with the Cochrane Collaboration- a central figure in the reviews of Tamiflu® concluding that it was not the panacea for influenza claimed by the manufacturer. Later, along with Peter Doshi, David Healy, Kay Dickersin, and Swaroop Vedula, he authored the RIAT proposal [see Restoring invisible and abandoned trials: a call for people to publish the findings] which we followed in our article [Restoring Study 329: efficacy and harms of paroxetine and imipramine in treatment of major depression in adolescence]. In this video, he discusses the whole issue of Data Transparency, and then in the invited article that follows, proposes that public health policy rely only on independent trials and studies rather than the industry-influenced studies in the medical literature.
by Tom JeffersonDrug and Therapeutics Bulletin of Navarre, Spain. 2015 23[2]:1-11.
Journal publications of randomised controlled trials [“literature”] have so far formed the basis for evidence of the effects of pharmaceuticals and biologics. In the last decade, progressively accumulating evidence has shown that literature is affected by reporting bias with evident implications for the reliability of any decision based on literature or its derivatives such as research synthesis. Instead of trying to reform the fields of research, industry, government, regulation and publishing, I propose basing public health decisions and reimbursement of any important intervention on independent trials and studies following the model pioneered by the mario negri Institute of Pharmacological research.
Note that the interviewer above mentions the TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership] which is a multinational agreement currently being negotiated. It couldn’t be a bigger [and more crucial] deal. If you’re not up to speed on it, see this page on Public Citizen. Among many other things, it could potentially declare Clinical Trial Data a Trade Secret, undermining any and all attempts at reform…
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.