Science

Prompted by listening to a Radio 4 (OK that’s stretching “popular” a bit) drama series called Bitter Pill I’m struck by the sad but hilarious inattention to any of the reality of drug development.  Partly excused by being set 10 years in the future but it’s hard to know where to start: what’s the objective of a Phase 1 trial?; ever heard of blinding (OK not in Phase 1), informed consent, doctor-patient confidentiality, controlled experimentation, regulatory approvals…?  But the main point is this: if you”re going to try to tackle a subject like this, why not spend a couple of hours talking to someone who actually knows about it first?