NIH Fails to Enforce Rules for Reporting Clinical Trial Results

A review by the US Office of Inspector General found that only about half of the scientists running clinical trials funded by the NIH in 2019 and 2020 appropriately recorded their findings in a federal database, as is legally required.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 3 min read

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A red sign that reads “Clinical Center, Building 10” outside of a brick building

The Clinical Center, where the majority of NIH-led clinical trials are performed, at the agency’s main campus in Maryland

Image credit:© Istock.com, Grandbrothers

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The US National Institutes of Health failed to ensure the timely reporting of results in roughly half of the clinical trials it funded in 2019 and 2020, including many overseen by NIH scientists, according to the findings of a new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. In some cases, the agency allowed researchers who failed to meet these federal reporting requirements to launch new trials as well, drawing intense criticism from research transparency advocates and at least one former director of ClinicalTrials.gov, the federal database in which scientists are legally required to post updates on clinical research.

“NIH has severely let down patients and taxpayers since 2007, when trial reporting first became mandatory,” Till Bruckner, the founder of Transparimed, a group that tracks issues pertaining to clinical trial transparency, tells STAT News. “As this report documents, NIH for over a decade turned ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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