From: Elliot Udell, DPM
Thank you Drs. Jacobs and Gottlieb for touching on the topic of research vs clinical trials in the podiatric medical setting. Having organized a workshop at an APMA National convention, designed to motivate colleagues into getting into research, I am happy to report that our profession is not devoid of research but we are not "setting the world on fire" either. The problem simply is that clinical research is extremely expensive and a finished project involves labs, professionals from multi-disciplines, editors, etc. Drug companies will invest in it because they expect to charge the public billions of dollars for the finished product.
Many years ago, I was approached at a conference by a person representing a natural product for onychomycosis. He gave me samples. I was skeptical but tried it and witnessed amazing results. Another colleague who frequently lectured and published on podiatric dermatology had the same great results and we both approached the company and asked them to do clinical trials at podiatric institutions and prove that what we were seeing was real. The price tag was enormous. That "ma and pa company” could not afford it and ultimately discontinued making the product. Patients still ask me for that product. Affordable clinical trials may have made a difference.
Elliot Udell, DPM, Hicksville, NY
