Quiz

Why Some Clinical Trial Data Remains Hidden

Alibaba warehouse workers, signs of innovation, and how gender of Brazilian mayors played out in COVID-19

1 of 5
1 of 5

The Food and Drug Administration since 2007 requires clinical trial data to be made public, to alert drug users to possible side effects, with potential $10,000 daily fines for failing to timely disclose. Compliance has been spotty. Fines levied so far total:
$41.4 billion.
36 bitcoin.
Zero.

Read on: A dozen years of clinical trial data suggests drug companies’ disclosure is worse when the drug in question competes with other drugs.

2 of 5
2 of 5

A group of workers at an Alibaba warehouse in China lifted their productivity 17.9% after believing they were being assigned tasks by:
An algorithm.
A local political leader.
A warehouse supervisor.

Read on: Participants who were led to believe their tasks were set by an algorithm reported a higher sense of fairness.

3 of 5
3 of 5

Patent output and R&D spending are widely followed barometers of corporate innovation. Name another statistic meriting increasing attention.
Square footage of a company’s labs.
Product trademarks.
Repetition of the word innovation in the CEO’s annual letter to investors.

Read on: Companies that register more new product trademarks exhibit higher cash flow from operations and return on assets for the next two years.

4 of 5
4 of 5

Mayors in Brazil had control of pandemic policies around lockdowns and distancing. Researchers observed:
Male mayors locked down sooner, then eased up during COVID-19’s second wave.
Women mayors locked down sooner, then eased up during COVID-19’s second wave.
There was no difference based on the mayor’s gender.

Read on: The differences stem less from gender policy preferences than from expectations about voters’ gender-biased expectations.

5 of 5
5 of 5

Requiring the disclosure of drug-company gratuities to physicians caused which doctors to prescribe fewer expensive drugs?
Those who accept lots of gratuities.
Those who accept fewer or no gifts.

Read on: Physicians who accepted large amounts of meals after the disclosure law are simply unresponsive to disclosure, researchers suggest.