COVID Science Speed Limit
July 9, 2020
As the coronavirus gained speed and deaths mounted, many doctors and patients, anxious for treatments, turned to drugs that had not been tested for effectiveness and safety in sound clinical trials. But “desperation is not a strategy,” a researcher and government adviser says, noting that “good clinical trials represent a solid strategy.” An Issues online exclusive earlier examined this shortcutting of customary scientific standards, abetted by politicians and the media, and pointed out that rushes for treatments have occurred all too often in medical history, with patients paying the price.