Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Before you join a clinical trial: Read this first

Michael Kirsch, MD
Physician
April 11, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share

From time to time, friends, patients, and relatives ask my advice on participating in a medical experiment.  My response has been no.  More accurately, once I explain to them the realities of research, they don’t need to be persuaded.  They back away.

Here’s the key point.   When an individual volunteers to join a research project, the medical study is not designed to benefit the individual patient.  This point is sorely misunderstood by patients and their families who understandably will pursue any opportunity to achieve some measure of healing for an ailing individual.  I get this.

In addition, I believe that these research proposals are often slanted in a way to suggest that there may direct benefit that the patient will receive.  I am not accusing the medical establishment of uttering outright falsehoods to prospective study patients, but there are two powerful forces that may incentivize investigators to recruit patients with undue influence.

The Medical Research Industrial Complex is a voracious beast that needs a steady diet of new recruits.  In other words, the beast must be fed.

Investigators have bias favoring their research and truly believe that the new drug has a real chance of helping study patients.

The truth is this:  In general, research projects are designed to generate new knowledge that will be used to help patients down the road, not those in the study.  Of course, I cannot state with absolute certainty that a study patient won’t realize a favorable result, but this serendipitous outcome is not the study’s planned yield. It should be viewed as a happy accident.  This is why the study is properly called a research experiment.

Beware of the packaging.  If your mom or dad has Alzheimer’s disease, of course, you would be susceptible to the following hypothetical pitch:

Is someone you love struggling with Alzheimer’s disease?  Our Neurological Institute is fighting hard against this disease and is now testing a new drug to help conserve memory.  Call for confidential information.

Recently, in France, 90 volunteers took a study medicine testing the safety of a psychiatric medication.  One volunteer is now dead, and others have suffered irreversible brain damage.  We don’t know the underlying facts yet.  While a horrible outcome is not tantamount to guilt, this is a terribly troubling event that must be sorted out. We will find out soon enough if the French study subjects were given all the information they were entitled to, and if the investigators and others behaved properly.  The investigation that must be full and fair.  A conclusion of c’est la vie won’t be enough.

If you want to join a medical study to serve humanity — and not yourself — then you are free to make an informed choice.  Be mindful of the risks including those that are not known.

Helping others is a praiseworthy act.  So is telling the truth.

Michael Kirsch is a gastroenterologist who blogs at MD Whistleblower.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

The suicide rate is increasing. Why is that?

April 11, 2017 Kevin 9
…
Next

Never underestimate the power of pus

April 12, 2017 Kevin 3
…

Tagged as: Neurology

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The suicide rate is increasing. Why is that?
Next Post >
Never underestimate the power of pus

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Michael Kirsch, MD

  • Are Ozempic patients on a slow-moving runaway train?

    Michael Kirsch, MD
  • AI-driven diagnostics and beyond

    Michael Kirsch, MD
  • The surprising truth behind virtual visits

    Michael Kirsch, MD

Related Posts

  • 13 tips for medical students starting their clinical rotations

    Netana Markovitz
  • For medical students: 20 pearls to honor every clinical rotation

    Ton La, Jr., MD, JD
  • The benefits of early clinical exposure in medical education

    Karan Patel
  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • How to unite medical students in the preclinical and clinical years

    Michael Aljadah
  • My first objective structured clinical examination

    Johnathan Yao, MD, MPH

More in Physician

  • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Time theft: the unseen harm of abusive oversight

    Kayvan Haddadan, MD
  • Why more doctors are leaving clinical practice and how it helps health care

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why starting with why can transform your medical practice

    Neil Baum, MD
  • Life’s detours may be blessings in disguise

    Osmund Agbo, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Time theft: the unseen harm of abusive oversight

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • How one unforgettable ER patient taught a nurse about resilience

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • The future of clinical care: AI’s role in easing physician workload

      Michael Wakeman | Tech

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Time theft: the unseen harm of abusive oversight

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • How one unforgettable ER patient taught a nurse about resilience

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • The future of clinical care: AI’s role in easing physician workload

      Michael Wakeman | Tech

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...