It is always up to the patient to decide whether to enroll in a clinical trial. Patients always have the right to know all the information about the treatment they are going to undergo, and they also have the right to leave the trial at any time if they wish.
Before a clinical trial even starts, the doctor explains to the patient all the information about the treatment he/she will receive, as well as all the possible benefits and risks associated with it.
In this article, you will find a summary of all the benefits of enrolling in a clinical trial:
- Access to new treatments or medicines that may be more effective than what is being used right now.
Before a drug is marketed, its efficacy and safety are evaluated in a clinical trial. By enrolling in a trial, you may be able to access drugs that could be beneficial for particular disease profiles before they become commercially available. In addition, if a patient benefits from treatment, there is a possibility that he or she can continue with the treatment even after the study is over.
- Comprehensive medical information about a particular disease or condition.
In order to determine if a patient is eligible for a clinical trial, various medical evaluations may be necessary and may be of great help to the patient. For example, the mutated or unmutated status of some specific markers may be studied, and this data is relevant to the prognosis and future treatment of the patient.
- Regular medical monitoring and evaluation.
Clinical trials are designed to reduce patient risk and measure treatment effectiveness comprehensively. For that reason, patients participating in a trial may receive closer medical follow-up than people receiving conventional treatment.
- Most treatments and tests performed in clinical trials are funded by the pharmaceutical industry.
Over 80% of clinical research is conducted by private pharmaceutical companies. These companies fund the costs derived from treatments, diagnostic tests and other assessments required during the conduct of the clinical trial. In Spain, this has a direct impact on cost savings for the National Health System and hospitals.
- Contribute to research and help save lives in the future.
Every new treatment we have today exists thanks to clinical trials and all the patients who have participated in them. It is important to remember that by enrolling in a clinical trial, the benefit we obtain is not simply individual, but can be extrapolated to all patients who may have a similar disease and will ultimately have a positive impact on society in general.
Sources:
Balasubramanian G, Morampudi S, Chhabra P, Gowda A, Zomorodi B. An overview of Compassionate Use Programs in the European Union member states. Intractable Rare Dis Res. 2016 Nov; 5(4): p. 244-254.
Majumdar S, Roe M, Peterson E, et al. Better Outcomes for Patients Treated at Hospitals That Participate in Clinical Trials. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Mar; 168(6): p. 657-662.
El positivo impacto económico de los ensayos clínicos en las cuentas del sistema sanitario. [Online].; 2019. Available from: https://www.farmaindustria.es/web/otra-noticia/el-positivo-impacto-economico-de-los-ensayos-clinicos-en-las-cuentas-del-sistema-sanitario/.
