Scientific critical review of clinical trials: is the objectivity important?

Abstract

In 2016, a multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial in parallel groups was completed in the Russian Federation to evaluate the efficacy of the liquid dosage form of Anaferon for children in the treatment of acute respiratory viral infections in children. The design and main results of the study are presented in the largest foreign database ClinicalTrials. gov of the National Library of Medicine of the USA. In November 2018, the collection of reports of the XIII Russian Scientific and Practical Conference with international participation “Health is the basis of human potential: problems and solutions” published the article of the Russian chemist N.N. Khromov-Borisov, where the author questions the reliability of the study of the liquid form of Anaferon for children. The presented article analyzes the legitimacy of the author’s claims. From the point of view of statistics, the analysis of N.N. Khromov-Borisov cannot be considered objective and correct, since it contains gross methodological errors.