Q: What is a Clinical Trial?
A. A carefully designed study consisting of volunteer patients who receive treatment under the intense supervision of physicians and research professionals. Often, this type of study goes for three phases. Physicians and investigators are selected by respectable Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies who qualifies them to conduct clinical trials. By conducting these trials we are able to discover how beneficial a potential medication would be to society.
Q. What can I expect?
A. If one participates in a clinical trial they are usually assigned to a specific study group. At times, a volunteer in a group may be given a placebo (inactive product used as a basis of comparison for the real drug tested) or readily available treatment. The patients and staff are purposely made unaware of this in order to keep investigations fair and accurate. Regardless of whether the volunteer receives placebo or available treatment, they are provided with the same medical care as everyone in a group.
Q. What happens after the trial?
A. If a trial is finished the findings are sent to the Food and Drug Association (FDA). Based on the research, the FDA will decide if the medicine can move to the next phrase of testing or not. If approved, another trial phrase will proceed consisting of different volunteer patients. After the final phrase of testing is completed, the pharmaceutical companies that sponsored the clinical trials must submit their findings to the FDA. At this point, the FDA makes the final decision on whether the product is safe for the public, in need of further testing, or should be totally disregarded.
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