Medical Research: Keeping It Real

We are happy to have another column from Professor Peter Kowey. On the challenges of regulation of medical research. JMM

Medical research is the engine that drives clinical medicine. Every mainstream drug and device used by practitioners needs to be proven safe and effective before being marketed. It hasn’t always been this way. Until the mid-twentieth century, there was no process by which medical products were properly vetted. As a result, snake oil purveyors had free r…