Too Many Articles Are Mum on Harm

Treatments for urinary problems and prostate cancer carry certain risks. How well do physicians communicate complications in journal articles? A new analysis suggests that urologists don’t do such a good job discussing the harm new treatments can cause. Investigators reviewed over 150 trials published in major urology journals. They reported that up to 20 percent had no information at all about potential harm from the treatment under study. Another 18 percent had no information on risks in either the title or the abstract. The authors call for more transparency when researchers report their findings. It should be easy for readers to discover why some subjects dropped out of clinical trials or what difficulties they encountered.
[The Journal of Urology, May 2010]