BMJ 1995;310:735 (18 March)

Letters

Local research ethics committees and multicentre drug trials

EDITOR,--The role of local research ethics committees in multicentre trials has been discussed at length in the BMJ and other journals. I understand the frustration of researchers at having to jump through so many hoops, but I sincerely hope that any central committees which do emerge reflect the practice of the best of the local committees and do not become a soft option for gaining approval for poor quality projects, either in hospital or general practice.

The ethics committee that I chair recently received a response from a major pharmaceutical company that shows scant regard for the carefully considered opinion of a local research ethics committee and a gung-ho attitude to ethics committee approval in general. The study in question was to compare antibiotics in the treatment of otitis media and chest infections in children. We coopted the expert opinion of a consultant microbiologist and on his advice wrote to . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Emergency care in general practice
Francis Richardson, Peter Donnelly, and Caroline Lester
BMJ 1995 310: 1409. [Extract] [Full Text]

Emergency care in general practice
P D Thomas
BMJ 1995 310: 1268. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Richardson, F., Donnelly, P., Lester, C. (1995). Emergency care in general practice. BMJ 310: 1409a-1409 [Full text]  
  • Thomas, P D (1995). Emergency care in general practice. BMJ 310: 1268a-1268 [Full text]  
Access all current jobs at BMJ Group
Whats new online at Student BMJ
Listen to the latest BMJ Interview