17 September 2015 - Medicines Australia is concerned about assertions contained in media reports today bringing into question the safety and ethics of clinical trials.

Each year thousands of clinical trials are undertaken around the globe with more than 600 of those trials in Australia. This is vital work that ensures new breakthrough medicines are thoroughly tested for safety and effectiveness before they are available for wide public medical use.

Without the support of innovative medicine companies many of these trials would simply never go ahead. That would mean more effective medicines would be unavailable and Australian patients would miss out on the early access to these treatments that clinical trials bring.

Clinical trials are conducted by the best doctors and scientists and go through rigorous processes just to get off the ground. Their conduct is transparent and their results are independently peer reviewed and published.

In Australia, all the clinical trial data must be made available for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) who scrutinise the information before it is approved as safe for use. If future data contradicts this information it must immediately be made available to the TGA.

For more details, go to: https://medicinesaustralia.com.au/media-release/clinical-trials-are-safe-effective-and-provide-benefits-to-australian-patients/