Drugs Context . A Brief Note on Randomized Controlled Trials and Compassionate/Off-Label Use of Drugs in the Early Phases of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Drugs Context


. 2020 May 26;9:2020-5-2.
doi: 10.7573/dic.2020-5-2. eCollection 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 ^{1 2} , Paolo Pelosi ^{3 4} , Chiara Robba ⁴ , Antonio Vena ^{1 2} , Daniele Roberto Giacobbe ^{1 2}



Affiliations

• PMID: 32523611
• PMCID: PMC7255468
• DOI: 10.7573/dic.2020-5-2

Abstract

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: COVID-19; RCT; SARS-CoV-2; compassionate; coronavirus; off-label.