WIKIMEDIA, RAYSONHOJust as there is a tendency for researchers to publish positive results from clinical trials—relegating negative or neutral results languish to literature limbo—so too is there a bias towards successful preclinical studies in the literature, according to new research. This reporting bias could be one reason for the high failure rate of drugs once they enter clinical trials. The US Food and Drug Administration might reconsider many of the therapies that it’s cleared for human testing if the agency had access to the full suite of data on the drug.
“It’s really important [work] in that it gives another explanation for why treatments that appear to work in animals don’t work in humans,” David Torgerson, director of the York Trials Unit at the University of York in the U.K., told The Scientist. “I’ve personally always thought that animal models are potentially not as good as people might assume, but actually that view could be completely wrong, according to this paper.”
WIKIMEDIA, LAURIE AVOCADOIn 18 states and the District of Columbia, the use medical marijuana is legal for qualifying patients. All but 2 of these jurisdictions have OKed the drug for children. But controversy lingers over the drug’s use in minors, and even in places where children can obtain medical marijuana legally, regulatory hurdles can stand between a young patient and relief. That could be changing, however, reported Aimee Swartz this week. Just last month, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill that, if signed into law by Governor Chris Christie, would put the level of regulatory burden for kids whose doctors have recommended medical cannabis on par with the requirements for adults, as well as legalize ingestible forms of the drug, such as lozenges, which are easier for children to take. “People want access to natural and safer remedies—for themselves and for their children,” said Paul Armentano, deputy of NORML, a non-profit organization that lobbies for the reform of prohibitive marijuana laws.
Of course, many questions remain regarding medical marijuana’s effects on children’s still-developing brains and nervous systems, and not all doctors endorse its use. But those who have prescribed it to ...
