Clinical Trials Myths: Day 1

Patients enrolled in clinical trials are treated like guinea pigs to test new drugs.

One of the most common myths about clinical trials is that patients will be treated like guinea pigs or an object to test drugs on, rather than as a person with a disease. Due to this, patients may worry that the study team doesn’t care about the patient’s safety.

While drugs in clinical trials may not be approved by the FDA, every clinical trial goes through reviews to ensure the safety and ethics of the study. Any drugs involved in a clinical trial also go through preclinical testing before giving drugs to human subjects to ensure safety.

In addition to ensuring the safety of the drugs or processes involved in clinical trials, trials are also required to be ethical. Patients go through a thorough informed consent process. This ensures that patients understand the trial and their rights as a participant. Patients can also leave a trial at any time if they change their mind about participating.