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Article Artículo

Medical Waste

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spend more than $30 billion on medical research every year. Some research is done in-house, but most is contracted out to universities and research organizations. But the NIH is not always getting its money’s worth when it contracts out. The selection process for awarding grants is inconsistent, and rigorous review of study design and statistical methods is missing. As a result the quality of NIH-supported research is shockingly poor, at least for some diseases.

After becoming sick with Lyme disease in 2003, I read up on the medical literature on treatment of Lyme disease. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by a tick bite. It is treated with antibiotics, but unfortunately many patients fail the recommended treatment of 2-4 weeks of antibiotics. Currently, there is a fierce debate among medical professionals about the optimal treatment. The debate is fuel by the lack of good research. The NIH has in the past funded four medical trials that looked at additional antibiotic therapy in Lyme patients who failed previous treatment. All four trials had serious design flaws that biased them against finding a treatment effect.

CEPR and Helene Jorgensen / May 08, 2010