It can be more challenging to raise money for research than operations, and even without that adjustment: the amount HLI has raised for SM is only a fraction of the high six / low seven figures for a solid RCT. Moreover, I think it would be particularly difficult to get a spillover study funded until the Ozler study results. So it’s not clear to me that this option was or is realistically open to HLI.
It can be more challenging to raise money for research than operations, and even without that adjustment: the amount HLI has raised for SM is only a fraction of the high six / low seven figures for a solid RCT. Moreover, I think it would be particularly difficult to get a spillover study funded until the Ozler study results. So it’s not clear to me that this option was or is realistically open to HLI.
To be fair I didn’t have any idea how much an RCT would cost!