On Monday, 23 December 2019 13:20:10 UTC, Roger Hayter wrote:

Anyone with the cash to hire competent people and administer the trial
can run one. As you say, there is no reason a drug company should
spend its shareholders' money on such things, and a university
department would need some reason to suppose there was a benefit.
Contrary anecdata is that chilli pepper (especially Scotch Bonnet) is
very good for stomach problems, respiratory viruses and illness in
general and this is also a solanaceous plant. So I don't believe a word
of it. There is no obvious reason why doctors should tell patients any
old wives' tale that they may have come across, prove it if you want us
to believe it.

Medical studies with enough participants to be useful are expensive. You'll only get the funds if someone stands to benefit financially from it. That only happens when the study conclusion promotes their patented product. Hence studies mostly don't get done for unpatentable drugs & processes.


NT