More substantial and convincing support for such a recommendation to eat cherries as a way to reduce gout flares would ideally emerge from a randomized controlled clinical trial.

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The results are the first from a major randomized clinical trial to indicate that treating an HIV-infected individual can reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner.

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For one, the groups noted the analysis is a retrospective study, not a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial, which many regard as a gold standard for ferreting out safety concerns.

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But a related Abbott drug, TriCor, failed to prove its benefits in a large randomized controlled clinical trial.

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The investigators are now conducting a randomized, controlled clinical trial of RAGE Control in the outpatient clinic at Boston Children's that adds a cooperative component.

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In the accepted hierarchy of evidence generation, the results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial usually take precedence over other forms of evidence such as meta-analysis and observational studies.

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The authors noted that there has never been a controlled clinical trial of parachutes, and facetiously suggested that one be conducted in which subjects were randomized to jump from a plane either with or without a device.

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