The surprising failure of a large clinical trial of HIV-prevention methods in Africa – and the elaborate deceptions employed by the women in it – have opened an ethical debate about how to run such studies in poor countries and have already changed the design of some that are now underway, reports The New York Times.
Scientists who conduct clinical trials are now testing participants’ blood more often and holding group discussions to quell rumours and urge participants to take their medications diligently. As a result of the failed trial, scientists are arguing vigorously about the extent to which it is ethical to pay participants for their time, and whether results of trials that do so can be trusted.
The trial – known by the acronym Voice, (Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic) – was abruptly halted by independent safety monitors because it was not working: Women who were given pills or vaginal gels containing anti-HIV drugs were becoming infected at roughly the same rate as women who were given placebos.
The study was supposed to definitively establish whether pre-exposure prophylaxis would work for African women. It enrolled 5,029 women at 15 clinics in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Uganda, and cost $94m.
The strategy has worked well for gay US men and Thai drug users took their pills daily, but worked for Africa women only when they were in stable relationships with partners who admitted to being infected. When parts of the trial had to be stopped prematurely in 2011, scientists suspected it was failing because some women were not using their gel or pills, even though they claimed they were and produced empty bottles and applicators to prove it. But all blood samples had been stored for later testing, so the researchers had no idea how pervasive the problem was. The final analysis said that about 70% of the women actually had no tenofovir, the main study drug, in their blood, even though about 90% had claimed they were taking their pills or using the gel, and counts of empty pill bottles and used gel applicators suggested that 86 percent had been taken or used.
Dr Michael S Saag, an Aids researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study that "a large number of participants actively removed unused medications from their allotment before returning to their study site in order to create the appearance of compliance with the protocol."
Dr Ariane van der Straten, a researcher who led follow-up interviews with over 300 participants, found that many admitted to discarding pills or pouring gel down the toilet. One gave hers to a friend working as a prostitute. Another stockpiled them for later, to take if they were found to work, "but her sister-in-law threw everything out," van der Straten said. "No one expected they would go to such contortions to appear being adherent when they were not," she said.
They lied for many reasons, she said. Some feared being scolded by the clinic nurses. Many wanted to stay in the trial because it offered free monthly gynaecological exams at a clean clinic where the staff members were polite, appointments were kept and the pharmacy was well stocked — a far cry from conditions at many public hospitals. Also, they were paid $10 to $15 per visit, depending on the country and how far they had to travel.
The size of the stipends raised the eyebrows of some scientists. But Dr Jeanne M Marrazzo, an HIV specialist at the University of Washington and Voice’s lead investigator, defended the payments, noting that the South African Medical Research Council requires that all clinical trials pay R150 (about$13). Poor African women are chosen because they are the high-risk group. In the interviews, she said, women cited free tests and contraceptives more often than the stipends.
Dr Jared Baeten, a global health specialist at the University of Washington, noted that the payment of stipends was common even in clinical trials at US universities and "discussed in tremendous detail" by ethics oversight panels. He oversees a trial of a vaginal ring that it is hoped will protect a woman against HIV for a month. Women in the trial are paid varying amounts. In Malawi, he said, they are reimbursed only for bus fares. But even the $10 to $15 payments, he argued, "are within reasonable amounts." Women join trials for many reasons, including wanting to protect themselves, their children and women in general from HIV. "I've never been concerned that money is the factor driving participation or is corrupting the results," he said.
The Voice revelations, several scientists said, have profoundly changed how similar trials are run. Gita Ramjee, director of HIV prevention at the South African Medical Research Council and a site leader for the vaginal ring trial, said the lab was not allowed to tell her any individual's results, but it could say which sites had lower overall drug levels in participants' blood. If that happened, her nurses would hold group sessions gently telling the women that they were doing worse than women at other sites and reminding them that success would help women all over the world.
[link url="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/health/failed-trial-in-africa-raises-questions-about-how-to-test-hiv-drugs.html?emc=edit_th_20150205&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=42505380&_r=0"]Full report in The New York Times[/link]
[link url="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1402269?query=featured_home"]New England Journal of Medicine article summary[/link]
[link url="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1415750"]New England Journal of Medicine editorial[/link]