clinical trials

The 21st Century Cures Act, the vast bill aimed at bolstering medical research and revamping the way drugs are approved, is a step in the right direction but is far from perfect, says an expert on the health care industry at the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.

The way that most scientific reports are presented seems to suggest that clinical trials have controlled for flaws or deviations, but some test subjects secretly break study rules that conflict with their own personal interests. These “subversive subjects” undermine the research endeavor.

Finding ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease has frustrated scientists and clinicians for decades. But now the battle has reached a potentially significant milestone: the launch of the first clinical trials to test whether giving new drug treatments before dementia can prevent Alzheimer’s. Shown are School of Medicine MDs and Alzheimer’s researchers Randall Bateman (left) and John C. Morris.