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Trials avoid high risk patients and underestimate drug harms

(www.nber.org)
174 points bikenaga | 4 comments | 08 Dec 25 19:07 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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DigitalPaladin ◴[09 Dec 25 14:29 UTC] No.46205262[source]▶
A relative of mine was in the late-stages of cancer, and was not able to find ANY trials willing to accept them. The worst of those trials was out of Baltimore (MD USA), and they ghosted my relative after initial in-person consults that required by relative to drive out of state. Despite the patient's repeated and dogged outreach to the trial authors after that point, there was never an explicit "no" that would let the patient move on, just radio silence instead and that felt cruel to me.
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1. John23832 ◴[09 Dec 25 17:55 UTC] No.46208134[source]▶
I think this is so sad and a symptom of a world where nobody wants to accept responsibility anymore. Even the responsibility to say "no".

We see this "no no's" in VC investing, job hunting, and now your anecdote, medical trials.

People don't want to be responsible for children. The elderly. Owning a home. Maintaining society. Or to each other. Saddening really.

People are adverse to just trying often times. The responsibility of potentially failing is something they don't want...

When nobody is responsible for anything, society crumbles.

replies(1): >>46208831 #
2. BeFlatXIII ◴[09 Dec 25 18:46 UTC] No.46208831[source]▶
Nobody wants to be responsible because those who are responsible end up taking the blame.
replies(1): >>46209891 #
3. John23832 ◴[09 Dec 25 20:04 UTC] No.46209891[source]▶
That's tautological.
replies(1): >>46219070 #
4. BeFlatXIII ◴[10 Dec 25 15:46 UTC] No.46219070{3}[source]▶
True. A better way to say it would have been to say that when taking the blame carries professional or financial risk, the smart move is to avoid it. When everyone cooperates, everyone wins (until the system breaks down); if all but one cooperates, it gets pinned on a fall guy (to the same effect).