Writing lay summaries: What medical writers need to know - Volume 27, Issue

Lay summaries are critical for building publictrust in clinical research and therefore forrecruiting patients. They are also an importantpart of efforts to improve data transparency.Due to new global regulations, lay summarieswill soon probably…

Regulatory Matters - Volume 26, Issue

Brexit and the European Medicines Agency The British government has formally triggered Article 50, setting in motion Brexit and negotiations can begin in earnest. If before, politicians could gloss over the complexities, they are now obliged to…

Regulatory Matters - Volume 27, Issue

Nearly everyone remembers the childhood tale of The Wizard of Oz. Four characters searched for something they believed magic alone could create, only to find that they already possessed it. The image of the Tin Man comes to mind, who believed he did…

Regulatory Matters - Volume 26, Issue

Medical writers are often involved in the preparation of submission documents such as clinical overviews and clinical summaries. The submission of the application (or, in the case of drugs already approved, a variation or supplement) is an important…

Transition to the EU Clinical Trials Regulation: Trick or treat? - Volume 32, Issue

The etiquette in clinical trial research requires companies to respect rules and to be precise and accurate. The new EU Clinical Trials Regulation 536/2014 (EU CTR) pushes companies and health authorities one step further – to be more flexible and…

Veterinary Medical Writing - Volume 30, Issue

The placebo-by-proxy effect – another argument against homeopathy

Chances are you know about the placebo effect. There are many variables to study,1 but in general, the placebo effect means that if you believe in a positive outcome of a drug, you wi…

Good Writing Practice - Volume 30, Issue

Grammatical misagreement in tense

I – Present, present perfect

Introduction

Each of the sections of a journal article contains anticipated conceptual components, which can be expressed by a specific verb tense for the perspective of time and the d…

Regulatory submissions of non-interventional post-authorisation safety studies - Volume 26, Issue

The post-authorisation safety study (PASS) is a pharmacovigilance activity often required as a post-marketing commitment to establish a safety profile or address specific safety concerns. An imposed PASS must be submitted in common technical…

Does standardisation improve animal testing of medical devices? - Volume 26, Issue

Abstract Compliance with European regulatory standards in animal research could be viewed as a way of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, rather than actually holding the research to scientific scrutiny. Standardisation is important and needs…

Medical Devices: An exciting industry at a crossroads - Volume 26, Issue

Welcome to this special edition of Medical Writing focusing on medical devices. When I volunteered to act as the guest editor for this issue, I did so knowing that we are at a crossroads in Europe. The Medical Device Directive is about to be…