A Clinical Trials Blog
So, what exactly do clinical trials contribute to medicine and society?
There's no way of knowing for sure, but they probably don't speed the course of medical progress. With all the governmental and scientific red tape, it might be more effective to simply try a bold, new treatment on one or two willing volunteers. If it seems to work, great. Start treating everyone with the condition or disease with the new treatment. But what if it doesn't work? Or, what if it causes significant (or deadly) side effects in the volunteers? Or has side effects that only appear when it is used in large numbers of patients?
Well-designed clinical trials help assure that new theories in medicine are tested as safely and ethically as possible. They are not without problems. People die volunteering in clinical trials - even healthy people. Not often, but occasionally. On a less morbid note, the vast majority of clinical trial results are incremental at best. Tiny steps are taken along an agonizingly slow, but relatively direct and safe path.
I've spent years observing the changing environment surrounding research involving human subjects, including several as the host of the Clinical Trials Message Board here at WebMD. There has never been a time when clinical trials have had a greater influence on our everyday lives. This blog will touch on all kinds of issues, most having something to do with clinical trials, some possibly not.
Coming Soon
-Joe
There's no way of knowing for sure, but they probably don't speed the course of medical progress. With all the governmental and scientific red tape, it might be more effective to simply try a bold, new treatment on one or two willing volunteers. If it seems to work, great. Start treating everyone with the condition or disease with the new treatment. But what if it doesn't work? Or, what if it causes significant (or deadly) side effects in the volunteers? Or has side effects that only appear when it is used in large numbers of patients?
Well-designed clinical trials help assure that new theories in medicine are tested as safely and ethically as possible. They are not without problems. People die volunteering in clinical trials - even healthy people. Not often, but occasionally. On a less morbid note, the vast majority of clinical trial results are incremental at best. Tiny steps are taken along an agonizingly slow, but relatively direct and safe path.
I've spent years observing the changing environment surrounding research involving human subjects, including several as the host of the Clinical Trials Message Board here at WebMD. There has never been a time when clinical trials have had a greater influence on our everyday lives. This blog will touch on all kinds of issues, most having something to do with clinical trials, some possibly not.
Coming Soon
- A bird flu vaccine is currently being tested in a clinical trial at the Johns Hopkins University
- The federal government has established a public web site for registering clinical trials
- The FDA continues to receive criticism of its handling of a "morning after" pill.
-Joe
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