(BMJ, 2019)
“Blockchain” has become a buzzword. Some entrepreneurs and researchers evangelise its promise of innovation, but others are turned off by the hype surrounding the technology. Blockchain sceptics warn about high costs. There’s more to this tamperproof technology than bitcoin. It could be used to improve the administration of clinical trials, ensuring transparency and yielding better quality data. Patients taking part in clinical trials deserve every record to be counted, appropriately handled, and independently assessed. Increased transparency and data integrity would help to accomplish this. The remit of regulators and the funders of non-commercial research is to protect and advance public health—and therefore they, rather than industry or academia, should lead blockchain’s implementation in managing clinical trials.
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