By law NIS need to be registered. The research question underlying this systematic analysis was primarily to learn about the scientific objectives of these. On the cutoff date (Aug. 7th, 2015) information available through the public database was systematically evaluated. It comprised 251 NIS on 581 pharmaceuticals with a total planned patient enrollment of 406,831. Of 33 final reports available only 8 conformed to the formal requirements. For at least 14 (and possibly up to 31) additional NIS such reports should already have been posted online. The most common research questions a NIS addressed were effectiveness in practice (efficacy) and drug safety. The addressed pharmaceuticals were mostly patented "me-too" drugs and generic drugs/biosimilars. In 31 of the 33 reports the respective research questions were answered with a positive result for the NIS. Due to both deficits in reporting requirements for the public database and a modest reporting morale/accountability, the informed public is in no position to make well-founded statements on completed and ongoing NIS.