Feds Target Misuse of Database on Clinical Trials by Stem Cell Firms, Others

September 24, 2018

(San Francisco Chronicle) – Federal authorities unveiled plans Thursday to clamp down on misuse of a government-run database of clinical trials that for-profit clinics — many of them selling unproven stem cell therapies — use as a marketing tool to draw customers. The database, ClinicalTrials.gov, is a massive clearinghouse for research studies, most of them testing the safety or efficacy of new drugs or medical devices in human subjects. Scientists have warned in recent years that for-profit companies, especially in the rapidly growing consumer stem cell industry, are listing clinical trials that are not federally sanctioned and don’t meet basic standards for how trials should be conducted.