Doctors need to be particularly aware of the vulnerability of their relationship with sponsoring pharmaceutical companies, and the extent to which a particular clinical trial may be used as a marketing exercise. Clinical investigators need to be appropriately trained to recruit patients in an informative, unbiased and ethical manner. At the same time, doctors also need to be appropriately trained to present the results of clinical trials to patients. A patient's trust assumes that the doctor will always act in the patient's best interest. If doctors feel they can't recruit their patients to a clinical trial without a conflict with their role as treating doctor, they may feel more comfortable recruiting patients they do not know.
Most new drugs are the outcome of industry investment or innovation.
The community, patients, clinicians and the industry all have a common interest in the speedy and appropriate evaluation of these products. The industry's interests include satisfying the drug regulatory requirements relating to efficacy and safety. The increasing dominance of the pharmaceutical industry in the expansion of clinical trials in Australia in the past few years means clinical investigators may be construed as agents for the industry. This may also be an opportunity to educate patients and the community about national treatment guidelines and how the results of clinical trials contribute to evidence-based medical practice. The information provided to patients recruited to clinical trials needs to be more comprehensible.