Able Quote by Francis Collins
![“When a drug comes out [that's broadly prescribed] there are going to start to be a lot of people on it [in a million person cohort] and you might get therefore an early signal of something unexpected that hadn't come through in the clinical trials. And I'm sure [drug companies] would love it if…” quote by Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/dda/francis-collins-5281_able_when-a-drug-comes-out-that-s-broadly-pre_408526.jpg)
“When a drug comes out [that's broadly prescribed] there are going to start to be a lot of people on it [in a million person cohort] and you might get therefore an early signal of something unexpected that hadn't come through in the clinical trials. And I'm sure [drug companies] would love it if, in fact, FDA, recognizing that, would say, OK, maybe you don't have to do your trial with 30,000 people because we're going to find out shortly after registration because we'll have a lot of people taking the drug and we'll be able to see what happened using PMI.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview on pharmacovigilance, 2015
Large-scale post‑marketing data can reveal rare adverse effects missed in trials.
In simple terms: Real‑world data catches hidden drug risks.
Key Takeaway
Use post‑approval monitoring to ensure safety.
Themes
pharmacovigilance
drug safety
real‑world evidence
Mood
cautious
analytical
Type
educational
informative
When to use this quote
- new drug launch
- clinical trial design
- health policy
- patient safety
Key Concepts
epidemiology
signal detection
regulatory science
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we improve data collection after drug approval?
- What safeguards protect patients before signals emerge?
A Different Perspective
Limited by reporting bias and data quality.
![“A review of seventy-four clinical trials of antidepressants, for example, found that thirty-seven of thirty-eight positive studies [that praised the drugs] were published. But of the thirty-six negative studies, thirty-three were either not published or published in a form that conveyed a positive…” quote by Marcia Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1cb/marcia-angell-19102_antidepressants_a-review-of-seventy-four-clinical-trials_2205018.jpg)
![“[Decoding the human genome sequence] is the most significant undertaking that we have mounted so far in an organized way in all of science. I believe that reading our blueprints, cataloguing our own instruction book, will be judged by history as more significant than even splitting the atom or…” quote by Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5c6/francis-collins-5281_atoms_decoding-the-human-genome-sequence-is-th_15604.jpg)
![“As you kind of get over the anxiety about [science and evolution], it actually adds to your sense of awe about this amazing universe that we live in, it doesn't subtract from it at all.” quote by Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/caa/francis-collins-5281_add_as-you-kind-of-get-over-the-anxiety-abou_75250.jpg)
