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Clinical Trials & Evidence Based Medicine
The treatment success of drugs and other therapies is measured through the use of clinical trials which create "evidence" that they work. This evidence-based medicine is what many doctors and researchers consider to be the gold standard in treatment. Understand the the basics, including the risks, benefits, and questions to ask, before you choose to participate in clinical trials.
Learn the Basics of Clinical Trials
Understand the basics of clinical trials, including the reasons clinical trials are conducted, the types of trials, the phases of trials, and the protocols.
The Risks and Benefits of Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are important for furthering medical science and need human participants to make them work. Before choosing to participate in a trial, patients need to be aware of the risks and benefits.
How to Participate in Clinical Trials
If you are considering participation in a clinical trial, there are a number of steps you'll want to take to be sure you will benefit from the trial, and the clinical trial will benefit from your participation.
Questions to Ask Before You Participate in a Clinical Trial
When considering participation in a clinical trial, you'll want to ask questions to help you determine whether you want to participate and whether you can commit to the terms of the trial.
Understanding Clinical Trial Terminology
There are dozens of terms used by researchers and patient-participants in clinical trials. Listed below are some of the more common terms. If you don't find what you are looking for, there are links at the bottom of this page to longer lists of clinical trials terminology.
Understanding Informed Consent
Informed consent is a concept that requires patients to understand the risks and benefits of any test, procedure or treatment a doctor recommends and a patient agrees to. Empowered patients need to understand just what they are agreeing to.
Common Rule, also called the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects
To make sure human research in the United States remain fair and ethical, the Common Rule, also called the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects was developed based on the Belmont Report. Patients should be aware of this policy which is enforced for any biomedical research and clinical trials.
What Patients Need to Know About Evidence-Based Medicine
Doctors often recommend their patients make treatment choices based on evidence-based medicine. Before we make those choices, it's best to understand what evidence-based medicine is, how it can help us, or why it might not.
The Controversies Behind Evidence Based Medicine
While objective scientific experiments and clinical trials would seem to produce objective treatment approaches for patients, that is not always the case. Understanding the controversy behind the evidence helps patients make better choices.
