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Retracting a paper is perhaps the most unpleasant task a journal has to face, particularly if the retraction involves scientific misconduct. With the number of retractions on the rise, an improved mechanism to deal with misconduct is necessary.
Treating costly conditions such as Alzheimer's disease may soon collapse healthcare systems around the world, yet companies hesitate to invest in the long, large clinical trials required to discover disease-modifying therapies. New incentives are necessary to turn this tide.
The starting point for many drug discovery programs is a published report on a new drug target. Assessing the reliability of such papers requires a nuanced view of the process of scientific discovery and publication.
Global health programs have made great strides in the last ten years, mobilizing billions of dollars to provide life-saving drugs and immunizations to people in resource-poor settings. But these myriad initiatives need to get in step to improve integration of healthcare delivery.
Conditional approval aims to speed the delivery of drugs to patients in need. But when full approval is denied, complications arise for patients, companies and regulatory agencies alike.
An association between a retrovirus and chronic fatigue syndrome has courted controversy since it was first announced. In light of new data discounting this link, medical decisions made on its basis—some of which were encouraged by the patient advocate community—might have been premature.
Off-label prescribing of drugs can add to a clinician's toolbox, but it may also pose risks to patients. Careful monitoring and clinical validation should increase the safety and guarantee the efficacy of using existing drugs for new indications.
The production setbacks for Genzyme's rare-disease drug Fabrazyme are tragic for the people who need the medicine. But a petition to break the company's patent exclusivity could do far more harm than good.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to create a way to fast-track approval of new medical devices, but they must first address the problems of the existing accelerated process for bringing devices to market that are substantially equivalent to ones already in commercial distribution.
Cancer drugs often impair quality of life and fail to extend patient survival. Mandating increased efficacy and promoting efforts to target tumor metastasis may improve outcomes for patients with cancer.
A joint statement from 17 funding agencies urges biomedical researchers to openly share data obtained from population-based studies. Although this will foster more collaboration, new web technologies need to be harnessed, and the attribution of credit must change to facilitate this transition.
Online science blogs are a valuable forum for commenting on published research, but their present importance lies in complementing rather than replacing the current system of peer review.
