Medical Care for Adults

The National Center for Health Research reviews important new research as soon as it is published. We cut through the hype regarding various medical treatments to let you know what is proven and what is unknown about the risks and benefits of various treatment options. We do not accept funding from the companies that make medical products, so you can trust that our information is based on science, and not biased by financial ties to the treatments we’re evaluating.

To find the information you need, please use our search box to search for exactly what you are looking for or browse through our various topics on the right. →

Some of these articles were written this year and others were not, however, if they are on our website it means the information is up-to-date. We always scrutinize new research and call the researchers to learn even more. Then we translate it into plain language that everyone can understand.

If you’re looking for more detailed information about cancer, please go to our Cancer Prevention and Treatment website.

If you don’t see what you are looking for on any health topic, please contact us and we will try to get the information you need within a few days.

Tougher Approval Standards May Follow Vinay Prasad’s Appointment To Lead US FDA’s CBER

We agree with other experts who expect that as head of CBER at FDA, Vinay Prasad will improve FDA approval standards by making it harder for unproven drugs to get FDA approval. Patients deserve to be able to rely on FDA to make sure drugs and biologics being sold in the US are safe and effective. Patients and physicians can’t make well-informed decisions if companies don’t do the research needed to provide clear evidence that a medical product is safe and effective.

Rethinking “Antimicrobial Resistance” : Focusing on Patients instead of Pathogenic Organisms

Everyone knows about antibiotic resistance. In fact, the term “antimicrobial resistance” even has its own acronym: AMR. With all the attention and new antibiotics being developed, why are the number of deaths from infections still the same year after year? Our commentary was just published in an international medical journal, and we explain that the […]

National Center for Health Research Public Comment Regarding FDA Draft Guidance for Industry: “Obesity and Overweight: Developing Drugs and Biological Products for Weight Reduction” (Docket No. FDA-2007-D-0435)

NCHR supports FDA’s draft guidance on studies needed for drugs intended to help adults and children with obesity or overweight with serious health problems, but we urge the FDA to require studies of 3 years rather than 1 year to ensure that the drugs are effective attaining and maintaining weight loss. In our written public comment, we also recommended that FDA require the research to include possible side effects and complications of long-term use or of discontinuation of use; require prior non-drug interventions before enrollment in a study of a weight loss drug (especially for children), and more rigorously analyze dropout data to determine the causes and analyses of missing data. These changes are crucial to ensure that patients and clinicians have the evidence they need to make informed, safe, and effective decisions.

NCHR Public Comment Regarding the FDA’s Draft Guidance for the Study of Sex Differences in the Clinical Evaluation of Medical Products

April 7, 2025: NCHR responded to FDA’s request for public comments regarding its guidance on sex differences in studies used as the basis for FDA approval. We strongly support most of the FDA’s proposed guidance, but we note that the agency’s has never required adequate representation of both sexes and so has failed to ensure that all drugs and devices approved for males and females are proven to have benefits that outweigh the risks for both males and females. If products are not adequately tested on a meaningful number of females and males, they should not be approved for females and males.

Public Comment of National Center for Health Research Regarding Accelerated Approval and Considerations for Determining Whether a Confirmatory Trial is Underway

March 10, 2025: National Center for Health Research supports FDA’s decision to require that a confirmatory trial is “underway” before granting accelerated approval, but the definition of underway needs to be defined stringently and clearly. In our written public comment, we recommended setting specific benchmarks and stronger oversight to ensure timely trial completion so that patients and physicians can make informed medical decisions about products approved under the accelerated program. We also state that the closer to completion the confirmatory trial is at the time of accelerated approval, the more useful the research evidence is likely to be. We also urge that no exceptions be made to the requirement.