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Older people are wrongly excluded from drug trials

BMJ Christiane Rehwagen

Age discrimination exists in many aspects of elderly people’s health care, a conference in London heard last week. Peter Crome, professor of geriatric medicine at Keele University and president elect of the British Geriatrics Society, was speaking at a conference on medication for frail older people organised by CCC, a group representing commercial, charitable, and public service organisations in London.

"The [National Service Framework] for older people is clearly against discrimination on the grounds of age, but there are many examples which show a different reality." Professor Crome explained. The common imposition of upper age limits for clinical trials was an important form of discrimination, he said.

"Frail older people show differences in their response to drugs. It is important that trials on drugs often used in older people are also performed in the [relevant] age group." When trials were performed in people older than 80 they . . . [Full text of this article]

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