Chair of NICE backs call for all clinical trial data to be public

The head of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has told MPs that all clinical trial data should be made public, as there is a “moral imperative” to do so.

David Haslam, chair of NICE, appeared before the parliamentary health committee on 2 September as part of an evidence session for its inquiry into the institute’s work. NICE, the UK body that evaluates the benefits and cost effectiveness of medicines and treatments and makes recommendations about which of these the NHS should provide, has already signed up to the AllTrials campaign (www.alltrials.net). The initiative—backed by the charity Sense About Science, The BMJ, the James Lind Alliance, Ben Goldacre (author of Bad …