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