One-fifth of Nordic clinical trials are not published, study finds

Thousands of clinical trials have not made their findings public, according to new research

More than one in five clinical studies carried out in the Nordic countries between 2016 and 2019 never ended up being published, according to a study published on 5 February. That means data from roughly 84,000 patients have not been made public, it found.

Several medical ethics groups have claimed this is a breach of research best practices. The authors of the study, led by Gustav Nilsonne of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, say it is not only a misuse of money and patients’ confidence but undermines a common knowledge base.