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Doctors may just use the drug off-label. If the patient responds then they use the drug, otherwise they try something else. A formal trial really helps very lit
by zosima 14y ago
Doctors may just use the drug off-label. If the patient responds then they use the drug, otherwise they try something else. A formal trial really helps very little in these cases.
If a bunch of clinicians find that the drug is effective against the condition, they can (as has happened so many times) make their own study to popularize the usage.
Remember: The safety of the drug is not in question, just the efficiacy.
- refurb 14y agoBut how do physicians know it works if trials aren't run? You can't go by anecdotal evidence. Hell, look at the huge niacin trial that Merck ran. Doctors have been prescribing it for 30 years and you know what? It doesn't help. Unless a massive clinical trial was run, you'd never know whether it was worth prescribing.