Clinical Trials Series

Clinical trials are our best vehicle for turning medical information that we may think is true into evidence that we know, within reasonable limits, to be true. Since the introduction of random assignments to treatment in the 1930s,1 the clinical trial has been in continuous evolution. Among the major milestones have been the development of methods to perform randomization; the convening of data and safety monitoring committees; the formulation of stopping guidelines for safety, efficacy, and futility; and many others. Indeed, the clinical trial landscape is far different today from what it was over 80 years ago, when investigators first . . .