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# FDA Ignoring Fines for Failing to Report Trials: Column
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/fda-ignoring-fines-for-failing-to-report-trials-column/
- Published: 2020-02-20T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:03:55.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5146136

A news column in *The Lancet Respiratory Medicine* synthesizes several recent studies showing that many companies fail to meet their obligation to report clinical trial results to ClinicalTrials.gov within a year of the trial’s completion. Although those who fail to report can be fined more than $10,000/day, there is no evidence that FDA has issued a single penalty, the [column](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600%2820%2930072-2/fulltext?ref=fdaweb.com#%20) says.

Researcher **Nicholas DeVito** from the University of Oxford who conducted one of the analyses of reports at the ClinicalTrials Web site said, “I am pretty certain that if FDA started to fine people, we would immediately see a lot more trials getting their results in on time.” DeVito’s study showed that at least 2,487 trials in the U.S. were in breach of the law and that FDA was entitled to have levied more than $4 billion in fines by 9/2019.