ByEverything You Need To Know About Finding and Signing Up for a Clinical Trial Safely
Including humans in the research process is essential in identifying new treatments for diseases because it provides answers that cannot be learned in a laboratory or through animal testing.
People who choose to participate in clinical trials and medical surveys help others and themselves by pushing the science forward, which increases the chances of patients getting the right treatment sooner.
Participants may also gain early access to innovative therapies, receive enhanced medical care, and get constant supervision during and after the trial.
Whether you are an individual considering joining paid clinical trials for healthy volunteers, or a patient with a chronic illness attempting to find clinical trials, DoNotPay can assist you in the process.
What Is the Clinical Trial Definition?
National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines a clinical trial as a research study in which human subjects undergo one or several procedures or treatments to examine their impacts on health-related or behavioral outcomes.
The purpose of a clinical trial is to answer a specific scientific question, often oriented towards finding new or improved methods to prevent, diagnose, or treat various diseases.
To do that, researchers take one of three approaches:
- The single-blind is a research in which only the research team knows which patient is receiving which treatment. This means that patients could receive a different dosage of the same treatment, or that some participants will get the treatment, while others will receive the placebo substance (one without any active ingredients)
- The double-blind implies that neither the participants nor researchers are familiar with which treatment patients are receiving
- The open-label constitutes that everyone involved in the trial knows which treatment the patient is receiving
Clinical trials can be focused on other goals, like comparing new treatments to existing ones or even exploring ways to improve the quality of life of people living with life-threatening conditions.
The term clinical trial is often confused with the clinical study, which covers a bit wider range.
What Is a Clinical Study?
A clinical study includes any research that uses human volunteers and is intended to expand medical knowledge. A clinical trial is one of the two types of clinical studies, the other being an observational study.
While randomized clinical trials test a new treatment method, the purpose of observational studies is to develop new ideas about how the disease might best be treated and to determine the connection between causes and effects.
Observational studies are conducted on participants who have already been diagnosed with specific diseases and done without intervention from the researcher.
Who Conducts Clinical Trials?
Clinical trials are conducted by research teams that can include physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals, and are usually led by a medical doctor as a principal investigator.
The location of the trial depends on the team behind it. They can be implemented in hospitals, universities, local doctors' offices, and clinics.
Government agencies are the usual sponsors of clinical trials, but trials can also be funded by pharmaceutical companies, private corporations, non-profit organizations, healthcare institutions, academic medical centers, and individuals like physicians, professors, or researchers.
How To Find Current Clinical Trials With DoNotPay
Instead of googling "clinical trials near me" or "highest-paid clinical trials near me," why not use DoNotPay to find the best clinical trials, university psych studies, and paid research surveys you are eligible for?
Our app enables you to find the trial you want based on the distance, estimated compensation, safety, placebo inclusion, type of study, and other factors.
Here is how to find the clinical trial that suits you the best:
- Open DoNotPay in your
- Select the Clinical Trials feature
- Tap Get Started
- Set up your filters
- Find a study you want to join and click on it
- Tap Contact
DoNotPay will contact the research team on your behalf to maximize your chances of admission.
You can expect a response email from the researchers within several days, and if you are admitted, you keep 100% of the compensation.
Alternative Methods To Find Clinical Studies and Trials
If you decide to look into clinical trials on your own, make sure to turn to reputable sources.
Here is an overview of trustworthy clinical trial databases you can check out:
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ClinicalTrials is one of the largest searchable registries of clinical studies in the world. The website includes data about trial goals, eligibility of participants, locations, time-frame, and contact details | |
| The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers a registry of publicly supported clinical trials carried out mostly in Bethesda, MD.
An extensive assortment of studies is available, both for patients with rare or chronic health conditions and for healthy volunteers | |
| NCI Clinical Trial Search Feature |
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has a search feature for cancer clinical trials which helps patients find an NCI-supported trial or get in touch with the NCI via phone, email, or online chat |
What Are the Phases of Clinical Research Trials?
There are four phases of a clinical trial, but sometimes there is an initial zero phase added before the trial starts.
The phases of clinical trials are:
- Phase zero is not widely used and is not a mandatory part of testing. In this phase, researchers use only small doses in a few people
- Phase one focuses on a small number of either healthy or terminally-ill subjects. This phase is conducted to find the safest dose of the drug (the highest dose that can be administered safely without causing any side-effects)
- Phase two includes up to several hundred people. The phase is conducted to see if the treatment works and if it has the effect it's supposed to on the disease
- Phase three involves large groups of people. The purpose of this phase is to establish if the new drug is more efficient than those already on the market
- Phase four occurs after the drug has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The treatments are often observed over a long period to discover all the effects of the treatment
What Happens After the Clinical Trial Study Ends?
Assuming the treatment gets FDA approval, the trial results are usually published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The new treatment may become a standard in treating that particular disease.
The truth is that most new drugs rarely pass stage three—the FDA Approval. Almost 90 percent of new treatments never make it to the FDA approval status. The reasons vary, from not meeting the deadlines to failing to keep up with the FDA protocols or predetermined criteria.
What Else Can DoNotPay Do for You?
DoNotPay is a multipurpose app.
We can cancel your IHC Health Solutions subscription, help you get a loan to pay off medical bills, assist you in managing your medical bills, or teach you how to deal with hospital bills after insurance.
Our app deals with mundane annoyances as well. You can cancel Hallmark eCards, get a Kickstarter refund, start an Audible free trial with our virtual credit card, and so much more.
Open DoNotPay in your and check out how we can assist you with:
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- Finding suitable clinical trials