Debunking Clinical Trials Myths May 29, 2015 by Chelsey Fix MYTH: Participating in a clinical trial will just make me a “human guinea pig” FACT: A common fear is that those giving you care in a clinical trial won’t treat you like a person or a patient. However, the opposite is true. Participating in a clinical trial gives you access to some of the best care available to patients. Also, strict ethical and regulatory guidelines are in place to ensure that each participant is treated fairly and respectfully, not to mention that all drugs in clinical trial phase go though a vigorous testing process before they are approved for use in a clinical trial. MYTH: I like my doctor, and if I participate in a trial, I won’t be able to see them anymore FACT: This is not true. Participants are encouraged to continue seeing their regular doctor in addition to any appointments they may have with the trial staff. A physician on the clinical trial staff does not replace your regular doctor. MYTH: If I participate in a clinical trial, I’ll have to go off of the medications that keep me in remission FACT: Each trial has a different protocol, or set of rules. Some trials have a protocol that allows participants to stay on current medicines. Or, if a trial asks participants to stop taking their current medications, participants are closely monitored and immediately given their original medicine and dosage if their symptoms worsen. The health of each participant is top priority for every clinical trial team. MYTH: There are no trials happening near me, therefore I can’t participate FACT: There are currently 17 clinical trials that are recruiting patients with Nephrotic Syndrome diseases at nearly 300 sites throughout the United States. If there is not a site close to you, many trials will pay for your travel (like the DUET study!). MYTH: If a clinical trial will help me, my doctor will tell me about it FACT: While we all love our doctors and respect their opinion, the truth is that they are extremely busy. We can’t expect them to save lives everyday and remember every clinical trial going on. Sometimes doctors just don’t know about clinical trials, or are unsure if their patients are interested. The best approach to participating in research is to do some research yourself and then take questions to them. If your doctor is unaware of a trial, they can find out more information and help you make a decision. However, please remember that only YOU can make the decision to advance research to help find better treatment options by participating in a clinical trial. Click HERE to learn more about clinical drug trials
James Bay says August 21, 2015 at 1:14 pm Recently, I have been considering participating in a medical trial. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to continue to see my doctor. I’m glad I still can! Thank you for this informative post!
michael lee says September 16, 2015 at 11:11 pm Hey Chelsey really glad you posted this! Medical trials really help the healthcare industry as a whole I must say, so it is refreshing that there is actual debunking facts that contribute to a positive picture for these clinical research trials! Always curious about actually trying one out myself one day to, this post would for sure help me feel more confident in doing so!
Chris White says September 23, 2015 at 6:20 pm It is nice to finally have some answers about clinical trial myths. All five of these clinical trial myths I have heard about and didn’t ever really get the answer to. I’m happy to finally have these questions answered, especially the one about participating in a clinical trial making you pretty much a “human guinea pig”. That is the one thing that I was really concerned about.
Alen Mcmilan says October 21, 2015 at 8:07 am Thanks for sharing well written article! It’s widely recognised by the medical research community that population health as a field of enquiry is reaching a turning point.
Smithc831 says September 23, 2016 at 9:34 am I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again!
Kairi Gainsborough says April 11, 2017 at 7:42 pm It is great to hear that the treatments used in clinical trials are thoroughly tested before they are used on people. I would love to help the research process anyway I can, so I’m glad no one is put at risk to do so. Since it sounds like there are trials like this all around the country, I should try and find out if I qualify for any nearby studies.
Chelsey Fix says April 13, 2017 at 1:27 pm Hi Kairi! Thanks for your comment. We, too, are very appreciative of the thorough testing process of potential therapies. If you are looking for clinical trial opportunities, you should try our new research finding tool here – https://nephcure.org/research/participate-in-research/. Best of luck!