A developing country response to Lavery et al. "in global health research, is it legitimate to stop clinical trials early on account of their opportunity costs?"

Abstract

Background: A recent paper presents an argument and mechanism for the possible stopping of clinical trials early based on opportunity costs. Discussion. Although we agree that the costs and opportunity costs of clinical trials need to be reduced wherever possible, we raise concerns about the motivation and mechanism for stopping clinical trials early raised by Lavery et al. Summary: We argue that there are already enough acceptable criteria and actors in the clinical trials arena to justify early stoppage of clinical trials, and argue that factors other than efficacy need to be carefully considered, especially in developing country contexts. © 2009 Wassenaar and Ramjee; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.