Information For Study Volunteers

Why Do We Conduct Clinical Trials?

Clinical trials have been an important step in the development of many of the advances in medicine and healthcare. Here at the General Clinical Research Center they are absolutely essential to the work we do.

The purpose of clinical trials is to answer specific questions about specific treatments. Usually, the point is to clarify the safety of a new treatment and determine how well it works under ideal conditions.

In clinical studies, participating volunteers receive treatments that are determined at random. This is an essential way to ensure that the results of the study – any outcomes affecting the health of the participants – are a consequence of the treatment being studied. That’s why some participating volunteers will actually receive a new treatment, being studied, while others receive a placebo, a medication or a treatment that does not contain any active ingredients.

Volunteers are Essential

Volunteers are essential to this kind of research. At the General Clinical Research Center we are always in need of volunteers who meet specific criteria for the many studies we conduct. Usually, those criteria include having a disease or medical condition that is being studied. Some volunteers will actually receive experimental treatments from which they may benefit, especially if they have a disease or health condition that has not benefited from other, conventional treatments.

Safety is Paramount

Before anyone can be enrolled in a clinical trial, the study must be approved. The Institutional Review Board and the ethics committee carefully evaluate all of the proposed studies at the Center before they are approved. The risks and possible benefits to participating volunteers, as well as the adequacy of the informed consent process, are carefully weighed during this review. Proposed studies that fall short are not approved.
In addition, there are a number of other ways in which participating volunteers are protected. For instance, participants have the right to review the way a study is designed and they have the right to understand the purpose of a study before they get involved. They also have the right to have all of their questions answered before they decide to become involved.

In addition, we strongly urge anyone considering participation in a clinical trial to discuss it with his or her doctor before deciding. Even then, any volunteer who becomes involved in a clinical study at General Clinical Research Center can withdraw from the study at any time, with absolutely no penalty.