Cochrane Collaboration releases statement on access to clinical trial data

An international non-profit organisation committed to providing the most reliable evidence of the benefits and harms of healthcare interventions has released a statement calling for free access to all data from all clinical trials in order to provide the best care for patients globally.

In its statement, The Cochrane Collaboration argues that selective reporting of trial results occurs frequently, leading to exaggerated findings of the beneficial effects of healthcare interventions and to underestimates of their harms. As a consequence, many patients are unknowingly treated with interventions that have little or no effect and may be harmed unnecessarily.

Read the full Press release here

Read the official statement here

Read an Editorial on this topic in The Cochrane Library here