Discover Drug Trials

The problem with easily finding drug trials might have something to do with potential abuse of the system. Let me explain. The truth is, drug trials are fairly easy to get into (if you meet the criteria). And either you do or you don’t meet the criteria. For example on one of the Alzheimer’s drug studies, the criteria is that the client has been on 10mg of  Aricept a day for at least 6 months prior to enrolling.  Very often, the researchers ask for a certain score on a mini-mental exam.

These are all black and white criteria. Either you are or you do, or you don’t. And these conditions are verifiable. Researchers can get your medication record from your doctor; drug study clinics will personally administer the mini-mental exam. So there is no “faking it” for most clinical trials. That’s fine and dandy. But there are other trials and tests that have ’subjective’ criteria, which can be made up or falsified.

Why would anybody falsify their condition or lie to get into a drug study, that seems silly doesn’t it? The answer is: for the money. That’s right; people get paid to participate in these studies.  Sometimes it’s enough money to make it worthwhile for some people to cheat or lie. In one case, a couple of young women responded to an ad in the paper looking for people with depression. They saw an opportunity to make some easy cash and fabricated the symptoms of depression. But since there is no way to definitively test for depression, they were able to fool the researchers for a while.

What a shame, for most people, getting paid is a bonus. They are excited to have an opportunity to try a cutting  edge medication that can potentially improve their health. It doesn’t cross their minds to do this for the money.  Nevertheless, it’s there. The pharmaceutical companies provide a stipend for the  participants to help with  their time and expenses.  Sometimes it’s a lot money, sometimes its a little. Usually, it’s in direct proportion to the invasiveness of the procedure and frequency in which the patient has to return to the clinic.

So we have potential financial abuse which makes researchers wary of advertising for drug studies, and then there are strict guidelines by the FDA which regulates every aspect of human drug trial. So even when a research firm is offering financial assistance and compensation for participation they are limited in how they can present that compensation. As I understand it every marketing campaign needs to be submitted to FDA and approved.

Are you still interested in participating in drug trial? Wondering about the mini-mental exam, which is in 100% of  drug trials involving dementia, Alzheimer’s and other mental aliments? Next time I will discuss and review the mini-mental exam in detail and explain how it has become the benchmark for measuring mental status not just in drug trials but in hospitals, clinics and offices. For a 30 item test that only takes 10 minutes to administer it carries a lot a weight. Ironically, the test is so simple that a lay-person could give the test to another person without too much difficulty, with a fairly high degree of accuracy.

Tell you what, I will give you a free copy of the test, with instructions, when you fill in the query boxes  below. So everyone that fills out the query boxes will get a free mini mental exam form. If you are interested in the  test, but you are not interested in finding about drug trials, just type in mini mental in the box.

Respectfully, Donahue Vanderhider, MSG

p.s.   See you next time, and don’t miss out on the next newsletter from www.caregiverrelief.com, they don’t come out that often, but when they do they have a amazing timely information.

And if you are ready to change your health once and for all, please go look at David Wolfe “Longevity Now” program  I think its launching this week! If I read the materials right, there are only a limited amount of packages available, rumor is it will sell out in a day.

Now you know a little about drug trials, so lets get into an understanding of how they work.  But remember that I do not work for any pharmecuitical or durg research company. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am a gerontologist working primarily with Caregivers.  Therefore I do not have insider information, nor am I biased to any specific  company.

As I understand it there are several phases to clinical trials, only the 3rd and 4th phases involve human subject taking the medicine.  All human studies are done in a double blind. Which means, roughly, that one group of clients are getting the medicine and another group are not.  What makes it a double blind is that the client does not know if he/she is getting the medicine or a placebo, they are “blind” to it.  In addition, the clinicians that are giving the medicine and observing the results also do not know who is getting the medicine.  They are “blind” to who is getting the medicine, and therefore cannot bias their observations.

Usually, if a study has reached to the 3rd or 4th phase of the study, they are getting very positive results. The 3rd phase is usually with a small group of subjects, because they are the first people to take the drug and they want to limit side effects if they occur.  If the 3rd phase is successful, they move to the 4th phase with a much larger sample size.

More later…

If you have question or are interested in a drug trial, on any subject please fill out the form below and I will respond to you personally.

Hi, well here it is – your portal, your gateway if you will to everything having to do with Drug Trials. I have been working in the aging community for well over a decade as a Gerontologist in the Assisted Living field, and it wasn’t until I ran into a high school buddy at an Alzheimer’s Association volunteer appreciation luncheon, that I started to figure out how people could access and volunteer for drug trials.

I was like everybody else, the only time I found out what was going on in the world of medicine was when I read about a new drug that was showing amazing results. But of course at that point the study was over and the results were being published. (and the drug was still unavailable!)

Personally, I think that if someone in my family came down with a serious disease (god forbid) I would go to the ends of the earth and spare no expense to find it for them. If you are like me, then you have come to the right place. Because if you found this site, then you will soon know what I learned, and I will make sure you find a drug trial in your home town.

My old friend Chuck, it turned out, had started a very successful company that does drug trials right here in southern California. I asked him a million questions over lunch, and then I brought him and his people to my residents and their families for a presentation, and immediately had families signing up to get their loved ones on studies. And now I want to share this information with you and your family.

Let’s start with a few…

COMMON MYTHS

• You have to be referred by a doctor or hospital.

FALSE: You don’t need a doctor or anybody else’s approval.

• You or your loved one have to be very sick or even terminally ill to qualify.

FALSE: Most drug companies that are trying to get their medications approved by the FDA
want people at the earliest stages of the illness, because they are the ones most likely to
respond positively to the treatment.

• It costs a lot of money in medical and related expenses to be in a study.

FALSE: While the drug trial does have very specific criteria for participants, if you meet
the criteria they will move mountains to help you get and stay in the study, this often includes
a financial stipend to cover your time and expenses.

• After the study, even if it works well they stop the drug and you have to wait along with everyone else for it to come to market.

FALSE: Most studies will offer the participants to continue on the medication  indefinitely and for free , in what is called an “open study”.

• Most of these drugs don’t work, and they are very dangerous.

FALSE: These companies spend millions of dollars on research before they even get close to the final
stages where they are having human trials. Because of the huge expenses they only purse medications
that are extremely promising.  For example Chuck’s company was involved in the following drugs
being approved for market: Ambien, Abilify, Cymbalta, Namenda, Aricept, Lexapro, Motrin, Prozac, and
Zantac to name just a few.

• These drugs are extremely risky and the side effects can be worse than the disease they are meant to treat.

FALSE: They spent 10’s of millions of dollars and many years researching this medication, only the drugs
that are the most promising are brought to trials. Yes there are potential side effects, but remember
there are potential side effects with drugs that are already on the market. There is always an element of
risk,  and you take that risk every day that you take so much as an aspirin.  Nevertheless, participants are
very closely monitored and if they experience any side effects they are addressed immediately, and
given the problem  potentially removed from the study.

Look, I can go on and on, but I think you are getting the picture. Here is this wonderful opportunity to get the most cutting edge medications, long before it comes on the market. Not only that but you get the medication for free. No, change that, you get the medication free AND they pay you for your time.

I know people that would never dream of going on one of these studies. They think of it as huge foolish risk.  And I know others that, facing a certain dismal future with their disease, will leap at anything that might help.

I think, that if you have read this far, you are definitely of the ladder group.

If you want more information please leave me your contact information, and short description of your situation, I ask that because it may be that others have the same question and it saves on repeat questions.

Please feel free to check out my main website www.caregiverrelief.com  It is loaded with content! It is currently the only way to get on my mailing list.  Go to the “newsletter” sign-up page and…well, sign up. I send out an amazing newsletter about once a month, and I pour everything I can think of that is useful to you into it.  You can also see my other blog at www.caregiverhelp.blogspot.com or read my articles at www.ezine.com