As long as that’s true, the case for high standards is a lot more sympathetic. Crappy studies are, indeed, crappy, and rarely worth betting a patient’s health on.
-
Show this thread
-
But take a different extreme, for perspective. It’s totally legal to write a blog post saying “this drug worked for me!” The fact that this is legal tells you *nothing* about how much credence to put in the post. Free speech doesn’t come with a quality guarantee.
2 replies 0 retweets 6 likesShow this thread -
It’s possible that if we allow more crappy studies *and amp up skepticism accordingly* there will be valuable signal amid the noise. Signal that we’re not allowed to generate today.
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likesShow this thread -
I actually *agree* with
@Dereklowe that most attempts to make medicines that bypass the regulatory system are crap. And I appreciate his work in explaining to the public *why* they’re crap.1 reply 0 retweets 4 likesShow this thread -
The *ethical* position I take (which I know most people don’t agree with) is that you have a right & responsibility to decide for yourself what is crap. And if you want to take risks with your own health, that’s your business.
5 replies 3 retweets 10 likesShow this thread -
The *empirical* hypothesis I’m making, which I *do* expect to be a question even skeptics should care about investigating, is that the “optimal” minimum standard for clinical trials is looser than the present standard.
2 replies 0 retweets 8 likesShow this thread -
In other words, if there were a proliferation of sloppier trials, would the benefit of getting true positives sooner (& thus faster, cheaper drugs) outweigh the harms of people getting sick from ineffective or dangerous drugs that were reported as good?
2 replies 0 retweets 3 likesShow this thread -
I could imagine a world where lower-quality trials were so useless that nobody intelligent believed them. In that case, legalizing them would be morally correct according to me, but a loss from a societal benefit perspective.
1 reply 0 retweets 2 likesShow this thread -
Fortunately we have a great natural experiment right now! COVID19 drug & vaccine development is moving at much faster than usual speeds and skipping a lot of typical precautionary steps.
2 replies 0 retweets 5 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @s_r_constantin
What do you think of my "Competing FDAs" proposal (In my reply to the On Building essay)? I was thinking of fleshing it out a bit more
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
-
-
Replying to @s_r_constantin
-goes into reeee mode- https://nintil.com/on-building/ pic.twitter.com/2Bg60xNBcR
0 replies 0 retweets 2 likesThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.