E-DRUG: AZT trials in developing countries (contd.)
---------------------------------------------------
I have two questions which I hope someone could help me:
(1) Aside from going on MEDLINE, can somone point me to some
succinctly written documentation as to which of the 15-some AZT
trials going on in Africa are in which phases? (Phase I, Phase II,
Phase III, or Phase IV trials).
(2) If we rule out cost, is there any scientific reason why the
"lose-dose" short treatment of AZT which David Ho spoke about in his
Time Magazine opinion piece (Sept 29, 1997) cannot be compared to a
"standard" (since 1994) AZT treatment? Experimentation with lowered
dosages of drugs have occurred in the past. The oral contraceptives
are an example. Assuming the cost is not an issue, is there any
scientific reasons why a low-dose could not be compared to the "full
treatment"? Would there be an ethical problem doing such a clinical
trial (omitting the placebo group)?
Thank you.
Elena Yu, Ph.D., MPH
Professor
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Graduate School of Public Health
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182
Phone: (619) 594-2711
Fax: (619) 594-6112
e-mail: eyu@mail.sdsu.edu
Note from the moderator:
------------------------
Dr. David Ho, an expert in AIDS/HIV was one of the two members of the
editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine who resigned
last week because of disagreement with the editorial which
accompanied the article by Drs. Peter Lurie and Sidney Wolfe referred
to earlier in E-DRUG.
Syed Rizwanuddin Ahmad
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.