Risks/Benefits of Participating
Risks:
- There may be unpleasant, serious or even life-threatening side effects to experimental treatment.
- Participants may be required to make more visits to the doctor than they would if they were not in the clinical trial.
- The experimental treatment may not be effective for the participant.
- Health insurance and managed care providers may not cover all patient care costs in a study.
- Participants in randomized trials will not be able to choose the treatment approach they receive.
Benefits:
- Play an active role in your own health care.
- Gain access to new research treatments before they are widely available.
- Help others in the future by participating in the study now.
- Be the first to possibly benefit from the new method under study.
- Obtain expert medical care at leading health care facilities during the trial.
Information compiled from the following websites: Food and Drug Administration and National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health.