The assessment of drugs

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Abstract
Perhaps more information is available on the efficacy and safety of drugs than of any other technology. The main reason that this is true is because of the regulation of pharmaceutical products, which requires manufacturers to test drugs rigorously before they can be marketed. At the same time, organizations that fund technology assessments pay a great deal of attention to drugs. For example, a study by the OTA published in 1978 and based on 1975 data found that of the 755 clinical trials supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in that year, 400 tested drugs in isolation, while another 135 tested drugs in relation to another possible intervention (487). It should also be noted, how ever, that more than 300 of the 400 trials of drugs tested cancer chemotherapy. What this may indicate is that information on drugs may vary quite a lot, depending on the type of drug and its possible uses.

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