Good clinical practice (GCP): A universal call for ethics in biomedical research - Volume 23, Issue

Today, the principles of good clinical practice (GCP) form such an integral part of the development of new medicines that they could easily be taken for granted. Yet, the road to a universal code of ethics in human experimentation is paved with…

Elisabeth Heseltine

Transparency and the healthcare industry: The Sun is shining - Volume 22, Issue

The demand for greater transparency in financial relationships between the healthcare industry and healthcare professionals is increasing globally, and has led to establishing government regulations and professional guidelines for detailed reporting…

Reporting of preclinical research: What do we get told – when and how? - Volume 26, Issue

At present, there are no specific requirements for the reporting of preclinical research, and many studies, particularly those with negative results, never get published. Despite the huge advances in communication opportunities, things have not…

Responding to concerns over the PSMF: Inspectors offer key insights - Volume 23, Issue

The pharmacovigilance system master file (PSMF) is a detailed description of the pharmacovigilance system used by the marketing authorisation holder for their authorised medicinal products. The PSMF is intended to be a live, custom-made document…

New documents required by the medical device regulation - Volume 29, Issue

This article introduces four documents associated with the new Medical Device Regulation 2017/745: the clinical evaluation plan, post-market clinical follow-up (PMCF) plan and PMCF evaluation report, and the summary of safety and clinical…

Reporting health economic evaluations: CHEERS and beyond - Volume 30, Issue

Health economic evaluations are relevant to those making healthcare resource allocation decisions, such as listing a new drug on the national formulary or launching a new vaccination programme. Compared with clinical studies that report only the…

"Processing health-related data for scientific research: Is consent an appropriate legitimate ground?" - Volume 29, Issue

I first met Brussels-based lawyer, An Vijverman, at the European Centre for Clinical Research Training Data Transparency Conference in February 2019. The conference brought together the clinical trials industry – sponsors and contract research…

Teaching Medical Writing - Volume 25, Issue

I teach medical writing at Copenhagen University, where I have successfully run the week-long Intensive Medical Writing Course for the last decade. Each time the course is held, there are three presenters, four tutors and 36 participants. In the…

Mind the gap – towards complete and transparent reporting of animal research - Volume 26, Issue

Several initiatives have been taken to standardise the reporting of animal studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals, such as the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) and GSPC (Gold Standard Publication Checklist)…