Published 11 December 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2986
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2986

Editor's Choice

It’s time to change how Europe regulates research

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

So were they right, the UK academics who six weeks ago wrote that regulation was "the real threat to research"? (BMJ 2008:337:a1732, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1732). If the BMJ’s rapid responses are a reliable guide, yes they were. This week’s letters pages host a selection of these responses, each vying with the next to show, in the words of surgical trainee David Samuel, "how prohibitive, laborious, and bureaucratic attempting to conduct research has become" (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2917). Can anyone beat my delays? asks Martyn Parker, whose randomised trial was eventually approved after a delay of over two and a half years (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2914). Further responses are welcome if anyone wants to try.

It’s not only researchers who suffer the consequences, says patient representative Christine Gratus. "The pursuit of patient confidentiality, often by patient representatives, is almost obsessive and can be in no one’s interests, particularly patients," she writes . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Hey, E. (2009). Managing allegations of research misconduct. JRSM 102: 134-138 [Full text]  
• Powell, D. E B (2009). Regulation of research. BMJ 338: a3140-a3140 [Full text]  

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