Risks of Clinical Trials

When dealing with medical research there are no guarantees. All clinical trials have risks, but so does every treatment, test, or procedure. Sometimes the preferred treatment that has shown great results in others will not work for you. Clinical trials are studies to test new devices, drugs, or other forms of treatment. They are used to help detect, diagnose, or measure the extent of a disease. In an ideal world, a clinical trial will find the perfect treatment that will relieve all symptoms and prevent the disease from happening to others in the future.

Clinical trials are used to determine whether a new treatment or drug is both effective and safe for all patients. Clinical trials can show us what does and does not work in medicine and health care. Despite all of the protocols that are in place, there aren’t any guarantees that adverse effects to the treatment won’t be experienced.

The Investigative Clinical Research Group specializes in clinical trials for gastrointestinal diseases. These trials are all done on a volunteer basis with the hope of minimizing the number of adverse side effects, but there are some risks involved with all clinical trials that you should be aware of before volunteering.

The history of clinical research is not perfect. Based on many years of experience and learning there are strict rules in place when conducting clinical trials to keep your health and privacy safe. Every individual at the Investigative Clinical Research Group monitors the safety of every single participant by following strict rules that have been put in place by Congress.

An Institutional Review Board must approve every clinical trial performed by the Investigative Clinical Research Group. This review board is made up of doctors, scientists, and laypeople who are dedicated to ensuring that the volunteers of a clinical trial are not exposed to any unnecessary risks.

Regardless of how many regulations are in effect and how dedicated the Investigative Clinical Research Group is to the safety and well-being of every volunteer involved, there are still some risks involved. First, the new treatment may not work. This is why trials are held – to see if the treatment works. Sometimes the trial treatment may have side effects that are worse than the treatment that is already in place. Another risk is that you may not be part of the trial.

Each clinical trial has control groups that are given a placebo instead of the actual treatment. Clinical trials can often be inconvenient as there are no guarantees as to how long the trial will last or what type of travel may be involved. Some trials may even require you to be hospitalized for a period of time.

At the end of the day, most of the benefits usually outweigh the risks of participating in a clinical trial. The one thing that is guaranteed by the Investigative Clinical Research Group is that all safety protocols will be followed to the letter. The comfort and safety of the volunteers involved in any trial are paramount to everyone at the Investigative Clinical Research Group. If you are interested in volunteering but have concerns about the risks, please visit www.icrmd.com to have your questions answered.