December 14, 2015 – Negative Results

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Anchor lead: The NIH has mandated that all research results, including negative ones, be made available on their website, Elizabeth Tracey reports

As a taxpayer, you’re contributing quite a lot to advancing medical and scientific research, and now the National Institutes of Health has mandated that results of those studies, including the negative ones, will be posted on their website, clinicaltrials.gov. Paul Rothman, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, applauds the decision.

Rothman: Negative results can be and often are more important than positive results. To be frank often studies should be negative.  Not every new treatment or new way to diagnose or new paradigms are better than the old ones. The problem is that journals don’t publish those.  Certainly the more prestigious journals don’t, and there’s a real bias in the very prestigious journals to publish positive results.   :25

Rothman is also happy that the public will have complete access to this data.

Rothman: I think that’s terrific I think we all should try to make sure the public sees our science.  :04

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.

Dr. Rothman  is a member of the Board of Directors of Merck and Co.  He receives payment and equity for this service.  This arrangement has been reviewed and approved by the Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies.