Drugs in Context (May 2020)

A brief note on randomized controlled trials and compassionate/off-label use of drugs in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Matteo Bassetti,
  • Paolo Pelosi,
  • Chiara Robba,
  • Antonio Vena,
  • Daniele Roberto Giacobbe

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7573/dic.2020-5-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9
pp. 1 – 2

Abstract

Read online

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the best way to find effective and acceptable safe treatments for COVID-19 and any possible future outbreak. However, caution is needed when comparing the number of participants in RCTs with that of patients with COVID-19 treated with compassionate and/or off-label drugs to support the hypothesis that the latter are preferred by clinicians as an alternative to the former.

Keywords