"Strong patient desire for investigational therapy has undermined many trials, among them hormone therapy for post-menopausal women, anti-arrhythmic drugs for atrial fibrillation, and high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation for advanced breast cancer," said Annetine C. Gelijns, PhD, Professor of Health Policy and Co-Chair of the Department of Health Evidence and Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "These therapies were all highly touted and widely used??”before rigorous clinical trials could demonstrate that they posed more risks than benefits. Off-trial use of these untested therapies absorbed much of the candidate pool and subsequently, the trials took longer than expected to complete."

The two-day workshop at Mount Sinai School of Medicine is intended to:

??? Define and discuss the problem of inadequate public engagement in clinical trials.

??? Identify the structures and culture of health care systems and delivery organizations that fail to support or engage with the clinical trial enterprise, and suggest potential solutions.

??? Discuss how academic medical centers can create successful community partnerships to improve public engagement in clinical trials.

??? Highlight and discuss models/methods, both proven and yet to be tried, of public engagement, including the media's role in public engagement.

??? Examine novel clinical trial designs that work.

??? Move forward a public discussion to create a comprehensive strategy for enhanced public engagement in clinical trials.

Source: Mount Sinai Hospital