Clinical Trials

A clinical trial is a research study in which you agree to receive treatment with promising new approaches to see if they are safe and effective. If you meet the trial's specific qualifications, your participation helps doctors find better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat your illness. The goal of the trial is to gain reliable information about the drug while protecting you, the patient.

If there is scientific evidence a new treatment may be beneficial, researchers develop a plan called a clinical trial protocol that is to be used by every doctor who treats participating patients with the new approach.

Clinical trials are divided into phases that measure both the safety of a new drug or treatment and its effectiveness for positively affecting the course of your disease. And though they can take a long time, the hope is that ultimately only beneficial drugs with acceptable side effects will be made available to those who can use their help. The FDA did recently approve certain changes in their regulations that will help speed up the approval of effective drugs, especially for lung disease.