I have just visited the National Institute of Health website and briefly scanned the 975 Clinical Trials that are listed as "completed" (for Parkinson's Disease). It looks to me that for around 80%, the results have never been reported !
This "failure to report results" percentage appears to hold irregardless of whether the Trial was completed one, two or three years ago. Of what value, may I ask, is running a clinical trial (or indeed offering to participate in one) if the results are never reported so that physicians and patients can make informed decisions about utilizing the drug or therapy? I'm talking about "important drugs" such as Exenatide which is already FDA approved for another application, and could be prescribed for Parkinson's patients on an "off-label" basis.
Those of us who have Parkinson's watch year after year as more drugs are paraded in front of us as having the possibility of "slowing or halting" the progression of our disease... only to have each new promising drug disappear into the "big black hole" marked "Clinical Trial". . . never to be heard of again. It is a scandal. Especially when you consider that some brave individuals risk life and limb to participate in a Trial, only to have the results collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.
WE NEED (AND DESERVE) AN ANSWER / EXPLANATION WHY TRIALS ARE NOT PUBLISHED, AFTER THEY ARE COMPLETED.
Here is the address of ClinicalTrials.gov where I obtained this information
