You Want To Join a Clinical Trial. Here’s What To Know About the Hurdles.

Connecting people with clinical trials is complicated — even if people identify a promising match, there’s a slew of potentially thorny factors, including geographic incompatibility, and financial and time considerations. Simply finding an appropriate trial can present an enormous hurdle.

But two-thirds said that their healthcare provider had never discussed clinical trials with them. Clinical trials are essential to the development of new and effective medical treatments.

What Happened

But gathering the real-world human data necessary to win Food and Drug Administration approval for drugs, devices, and other interventions can be an arduous task. The need to improve patient participation in clinical trials is not a new concern, but it’s attracting.

• In a recent online survey of more than 2,000 adults, 71% of patients with chronic conditions said they would be likely to participate in a clinical trial if given the chance.

• According to one study using data from 2020, just 9% of adults reported ever being invited to participate in a clinical trial.

• By one estimate, up to 86% of clinical trials don’t meet their recruitment targets during the trial time frame.

Key Details

In June, the Department of Health and Human Services announced an effort to streamline and enhance clinical research in the United States. It included a public request for information about whether to modify federal rules that currently deter some trial sponsors from.

• Jim Taylor’s wife, Geri, died of Alzheimer’s disease two years ago, more than a decade after her diagnosis in 2012.

• According to an online survey of just over 500 primary care physicians in March, sponsored by the Patient Advocate Foundation, even though 86% of respondents said they were somewhat or very likely to refer.

• When doctors did discuss clinical trials with their patients, it was usually because they had asked about them (67%), they weren’t responding to standard treatment (65%), or their disease was progressing (55%).

Why It Matters

In July, a group of nearly 200 patient advocacy and public health groups sent a letter to the Senate sponsors of the Clinical Trial Modernization Act, urging its passage. The bill would allow trial sponsors to cover trial participants’ medical costs, such.

• They may also need to get regular blood draws or imaging, or to answer questionnaires to monitor their progress.

• To participate in a trial, people generally have to meet periodically with the researchers conducting it.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by KFF Health News as more details emerge