Randomised controlled trials of multiple sclerosis drugs have consistently improved since the first positive result in 1993, but more transparent methodology is required as trials enter a “new era”, experts argue.
After analysing the methodology of 53 eligible RCTs that took place in the eighteen years up to 2010, the Italian trio note a steady rise in quality – mainly down to “many journals having statistical refereeing and clearer guidelines to authors.”
But with the clinical scenario in MS changing “rapidly” as trials become increasingly benign, certain questionable practices need closer scrutiny, the authors say.
“The advent of new therapies has made the use of placebo unethical, at least in trials lasting more than six months,” they write in Multiple Sclerosis Journal.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... w/pageid/7