ISSCR Comments on Need to Improve ClinicalTrials.gov Database to Prevent Abuse

The ISSCR urges NIH to improve the ClinicalTrials.gov to prevent the database from being abused by clinics marketing unproven stem cell interventions. The comments are in response to a request for information from the National Library of Medicine (ClinicalTrials.gov Modernization, Notice Number: NOT-LM-20-003).

Among the points shared was evidence that unscrupulous clinics use ClinicalTrials.gov to give the appearance that their approaches have undergone a formal and rigorous review and promote their treatments to patients searching for clinical trials. These clinics exploit the database with promotional, false, and misleading information, including links to sensational news stories and spurious claims that their interventions have a therapeutic benefit.

The letter provides recommendations for improving surveillance, warning patients and providers about dubious listings, and improving the accuracy of listings in the database. 

Read the comment letter.