Cochrane signs up to AllTrials initiative to campaign for registration and reporting of all clinical trials

The Cochrane Collaboration

London, UK – April 19, 2013 – The Cochrane Collaboration, the international not-for-profit organization that produces systematic reviews of healthcare evidence and the largest database of randomized controlled trials, published online in The Cochrane Library, has today formalized its commitment to the AllTrials: All Trials Registered | All Results Reported initiative to campaign for the registration and reporting of all clinical trials.

The AllTrials campaign aims to draw attention to the crisis of unreported trial data. Hundreds of thousands of clinical trials have been conducted from which no or limited data have been made available; data critical to enabling doctors and regulators to make informed decisions about which treatments to use and fund. This is a serious problem for evidence-based healthcare researchers including The Cochrane Collaboration, because all the evidence about a treatment is needed to understand its risks and benefits. Without a complete picture of trial results available, information is lost; bad treatment decisions may be made; financial investment into ineffective treatments are approved by governments and regulators; opportunities for better and more effective treatment are missed; and trials are repeated unnecessarily, duplicating effort and wasting resources.

AllTrials was launched in January 2013.........