About Us
We need to do more to promote clinical trials and make them more accessible to patients.
Our Mission
The Problem With Clinical Trials
Why We Can't Get Enough People to Participate In Clinical Trials
Did you know that clinical trials are essential to the discovery of new drugs and treatments? They help us figure out if a new drug is safe and effective. However, one of the biggest problems in life sciences and pharmaceuticals is that we can’t get enough people to participate in clinical trials. This delays the clinical trial and drug discovery process, and means that patients won’t have access to novel treatments we discover. Let’s look at why this is a problem and what we can do to fix it!
Background On Clinical Trials
One of the reasons we can’t get enough people to participate in clinical trials is that patients don’t always know about them. That’s why it’s important for us to help patients find clinical trials that are relevant to them. We also need to make sure that patients understand the importance of participating in clinical trials. Clinical trials are essential to the clinical trial and drug discovery process, but they are also important for giving patients access to novel treatments we discover.
There are a few reasons why patients might not want to participate in clinical trials. One reason is that they may not be aware of them or understand their importance. Another reason is that clinical trials are not always as accessible to patients. For example, clinical trials may only be available in certain cities or countries. Also clinical trials can take a long time and require frequent visits with doctors so some people might prefer other treatment options instead!
The problem is that clinical trials help us figure out if a new drug is safe and effective. If we don’t have enough people participating in clinical trials, then we won’t be able to get new drugs to patients as quickly as we would like. This is a problem because it means that patients will not have access to the latest treatments and therapies.
Using ClinicalTrials.gov
The way patients currently find out about clinical trials is through clinicaltrials.gov, a website run by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The site allows you to search for clinical trials based on location, condition, and type of study.
However, many patients are not aware of this website or do not know how to use it effectively.
Additionally clinicaltrials.gov is very difficult to use. It is difficult to find clinical trials relevant to one’s condition and location, and users cannot easily post comments on clinicaltrials.gov about the clinical trial experience or their thoughts about a clinical trial in general.
Also, it’s difficult to contact the clinical trial staff. If there is a phone number it’s often a generic clinical trials clinicaltrials.gov number with no way to get in touch with the clinical trial staff. When people do call, they often have to leave a voicemail and never hear back from anyone at clinicaltrials.gov due to lack of resources or personnel allocated by NIH.
Therefore it is difficult for patients to actually contact clinical trial staff and enroll in clinical trials.
The Problem With The Lack of Clinical Trials Particpants
The lack of participants in clinical trials is a problem for two reasons.
1. Not Filling Clinical Trials Increases The Cost and Discourages Companies
First, clinical trials are expensive and take several years to complete. Each clinical trial compounds the expenses of the previous clinical trial as new data becomes available and we have to design further clinical trials based on that data.
The longer it takes to find enough participants in each clinical trial, the more clinical trials it will take to find a drug or device that can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
As clinical trials become more expensive, pharmaceutical companies are less likely to start clinical trials for new drugs.
Instead of bringing many different drugs into clinical trials, they bring fewer products with higher success rates. While this strategy may be more profitable in the short term, it is not good for patients in the long run.
2. Clinical Trials Are An Opportunity For Patients To Get Access To The Latest Treatments
Second, clinical trials are the only way to get access to new treatments.
If we want to give patients access to the latest and most promising treatments, we need them to participate in clinical trials. The lack of participants in clinical trials means that patients are not getting access to the latest treatments.
This is a major problem, as new treatments often offer the best chance of beating cancer or other diseases. We need to find a way to get more people to participate in clinical trials if we want to make progress in life sciences and pharmaceuticals.