Galway halts clinical trials on cancer for last two years

Clinical trials for cancer patients at Galway University Hospitals (GUH) have been halted for over two years following an ‘administrative error’ in the unit managing them, it has emerged.

In a letter to patients taking part in cancer trials in December 2018, the hospitals’ clinical director Professor Pat Nash said no new patients would be recruited for cancer trials until these issues in the Cancer Clinical Trials Unit were resolved.

“The issues that have arisen relate exclusively to the administrative running of the unit and its governance and the supporting contractual paperwork. We are still investigating these and have commissioned an external report into them as well as reporting them to the relevant regulator, the HPRA.

“We are still awaiting a full report from the external reviewer and will be in contact again with all patients once we have clarity about all this.”

In a further letter in response to queries from patient Seamus Cotter, Prof Nash stressed that the problems were ‘solely administrative’ and ‘did not in any way impact on the clinical care that you received as a participant’.

“There have been no issues identified relating to the clinical delivery of the trial to patients; all patients received their treatment plans as per the trial clinical care protocols.”

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