NO INSURANCE IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH STUDY. Qualified participants may receive study related health care and study medication at no cost, as well as financial compensation for time and travel!
Clinical Research Information for the Patient
In clinical studies, a participant may withdraw consent and stop the study at any time with no problem at all.
A clinical trial (also called clinical research) is a research study in human volunteers to answer specific health questions. Carefully conducted clinical trials are the fastest and safest way to evaluate possible treatments that work in people and ways to improve health or control established diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Participants in clinical trials can play a more active role in their own health care, gain access to new research treatments before they are widely available, and help others by contributing to medical research. Participants are considered heroes in the research world because without them new medications would not be developed.
All clinical trials have guidelines about who can participate. Using study-specific criteria is an important principle that helps to produce reliable results. The factors that allow someone to participate in a clinical trial are called “inclusion criteria” and those that disallow someone from participating are called “exclusion criteria”. These criteria are based on such factors as age, gender, current medications, the type and stage of a disease, previous treatment history, and other medical conditions. Before joining a clinical trial, a participant must qualify for the study. Some research studies seek participants with illnesses or conditions to be studied in the clinical trial, while others need healthy participants. It is important to note that inclusion and exclusion criteria are not used to reject people personally. Instead, the criteria are used to identify appropriate participants and keep them safe. The criteria helps ensure that researchers will be able to answer the questions they plan to study. Many studies have procedures such as colonoscopies, endoscopies, EKGs, pulmonary function tests, X-Rays, CT scans, and laboratory tests that are at no cost to the qualified participant. All visits and study procedures are provided at no charge to qualified participants or their insurance.
Other Resources:
U.S. National Library of Medicine – Learn About Clinical Studies
U.S. Food & Drug Administration – Clinical Trials: What Patients Need to Know
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services – What are Clinical Trials and Studies?