Clinical trials

In this week's Kingston Whig Standard column, Sue Hendler writes:

I'm not on trial -- the chemicals I take for my disease are

"Being part of a clinical trial can make you feel good in that you are getting the very latest drug development -- state-of-the-art treatment -- for your cancer. It can make you happy that you are doing something altruistic, too, as you are helping the medical community assess whether this drug is worth more study if it is deemed to show promise.

It can also be scary to be a participant in this kind of research. No one really knows what the drug will do to an actual human body, so that's a little unnerving. On the other hand, you're getting what seems to be an infinite number of tests to see how your various organs, as well as your body as a whole, is dealing with the drug."

Read the full article

To read other newpaper articles by Sue Hendler, click on her name after Labels below.