At the same time that medical science is making possible new therapies for treating AIDS, cancer, and other once-fatal diseases, a new report finds major shortcomings in the way clinical trials are designed, carried out, and funded in the United States with serious implications for the outcomes of medical research studies.
The result of the EDICT (Eliminating Disparities in Clinical Trials) Initiative, conducted by the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the Intercultural Cancer Council, the report provides an in-depth assessment of the state of clinical trials in the U.S. and offers a nine-step action plan for improving the relevant policies of public, private, and nonprofit sponsors of clinical trials that affect how human studies are conducted. The report, issued on April 1, will be distributed widely to health policy makers, regulators, the public health community, clinicians, the pharmaceutical industry, and patient advocates. EDICT is a four-year initiative that is funded with an unrestricted educational grant from Genentech, Inc.For the full story in the April 10, 2008 issue of the ACRP Wire, click here.For more information about the ACRP Wire, click here.