Clinical Trial Volunteers

In order for any clinical trial to be complete or successful clinical trial volunteers are needed. Naturally, if no one volunteers to try out the medication being studied then... well... that would kind of bring things to a grinding halt. Clinical trial volunteers are essential. You may be reading this page because you are considering volunteering in a clinical trial, or already are a volunteer enrolled in a clinical trial... or perhaps you're just broadening the horizons of your knowledge base! Whatever the reason, here you'll find almost all the information you'll need to know going forward.

Why should anyone volunteer to take part in a clinical trial? For people with a particular disease or condition, participating in a clinical trial may be beneficial because by the time the drug in question has reached the phase where human volunteers are needed it means that the drugs shows some promise. At the very least the medication being studied may be just as effective as already existing medicines but at the most it could be better. Note also that there is also a chance that the treatment may end up being a disappointment. Therefore, going forward it is best to be aware that the results could be a mixed bag of unpredictability. It is also an opportunity to contribute to the practice medicine and help the medical community gain a better understanding of the disease being studied. Still interested? Great! Read on...

One of the first things you'll probably hear about should you choose to proceed as a volunteer is informed consent. Informed consent is where you learn everything you'll need to know about the clinical trial you are considering participating in before you actually finalize things and enroll. This is the full disclosure part, here's when you'll have your chance to get all the details and ask all your questions so that you can make a truly "informed" decision. If things come up during the course of the trial that you need to know, things that may impact whether or not people choose to continue as active clinical trial volunteers, you will still be informed. If everything checks out from your standpoint and you choose to enroll in the study then you'll be given an informed consent form to read and sign. Now note, you can still back out if you get cold feet, the jitters, or second thoughts... no one can or should force you to take part in a study against your will. So relax... you're in control.

What about your privacy? Great question! The same medical ethics and codes of practice that physicians and other healthcare professionals are required to abide by in regular practice also apply in clinical trials. Also, your personal information is always kept confidential, as in, your name will remain top secret and never mentioned in the data that is collected or in the final results that are published.

So what should you expect as a clinical trial volunteer?

• Freedom: as mentioned before, your participation is totally voluntary
• Full disclosure: you should be given all the necessary information about the study including details about the treatment you will be receiving as well as it's risks and benefits
• Very close monitoring: as clinical trial volunteers, because you're in a study you may get even better and more focused and intense medical care... more attention from the doctor...? Great!

But wait! Can you enroll in just any ol' clinical trial you want to? Well... not exactly. Every clinical trial has certain eligibility requirements which must be met. These requirements state what the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the clinical study volunteers are and as long as you meet those criteria you can participate in the study. Although researchers will usually look for people with the specific disease that the medication is intended to treat, sometimes they will also need healthy people in order to study how to stop a disease from ever happening or to help determine the side effects and best dose(s) of a medication. Additionally, whether or not you have been treated in the past for the condition (and also whether or not that treatment was successful) can also be a factor in determining your eligibility for enrollment. What else...? Your age, gender, length of time you've had the disease and/or the stage of the disease that you have.

Okay, so now you're in the know. You've found a study that you're eligible to participate and decided to go for it. But on a practical level how do you actually go about enrolling in a clinical trial?

• Ask your doctor: He or she may know about clinical trials that may of interest or of benefit to you that may be looking for clinical trial volunteers. If they don't they usually have access to resources to get the information for you that you'll need.
• Get in touch with a trial coordinator: You can look at clinical trials lists online or clinical trials matching services and go ahead and directly contact the coordinators yourself. This information is usually easily to find.

Will anyone "show you the money"? Well, sometimes yes but more often than not, no. Getting paid to participate in a clinical trial, depending on the circumstances is generally not really looked upon too favorably. However, other things are done in order to properly compensate participants such as paying for their medical expenses as well as travel costs, among others.

The worst thing about medicine is that
one kind makes another necessary.
- Elbert Hubbard



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May 25, 2009

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