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- Services and providers for Clinical Trials in the U.S.
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Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are research studies that test how well new medical approaches work in people. Each study answers scientific questions and tries to find better ways to prevent, screen for, diagnose or treat a disease. Clinical trials may also compare a new treatment to a treatment that is already available.
Every clinical trial has a protocol, or action plan, for conducting the trial. The plan describes what will be done in the study, how it will be conducted, and why each part of the study is necessary. Each study has its own rules about who can participate. Some studies need volunteers with a certain disease. Some need healthy people. Others want just men or just women.
In the United States, an independent committee of physicians, statisticians and members of the community must approve and monitor the protocol. They make sure that the risks are small and are worth the potential benefits.
National Institutes of Health
Start Here
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Clinical Trials
(Patient Education Institute)
Also available in Spanish
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Clinical Trials: Questions and Answers
(National Cancer Institute)
Also available in Spanish
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Understanding Clinical Trials(National Institutes of Health)
| Basics | Learn More | Multimedia & Cool Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Research | Reference Shelf | For You |
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Overviews
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About Clinical Trials(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
- Clinical Trials: A Chance to Try Evolving Therapies(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Clinical Trials: What You Need to Know(American Cancer Society)
- JAMA Patient Page: Participating in Medical Research Studies(American Medical Association) - Links to PDF
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Program for Healthy Volunteers(National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center)
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About Clinical Trials
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Specific Conditions
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Access to Investigational Drugs: Questions and Answers(National Cancer Institute)
- Becoming a Research Volunteer: It's Your Decision(Office for Human Research Protections) - Links to PDF
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How Is a Clinical Trial Planned and Carried Out?(National Cancer Institute)
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JAMA Patient Page: Randomized Controlled Trials(American Medical Association)
Also available in Spanish
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Monitoring the Safety of Clinical Trials(National Cancer Institute)
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Participate in Clinical Studies at the NIH Clinical Center(National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center)
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Access to Investigational Drugs: Questions and Answers
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Related Issues
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Guide to Understanding Informed Consent(National Cancer Institute)
- Minority Role in Clinical Trials(Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health)
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National Institutes of Health Clinical Alerts and Advisories(National Library of Medicine)
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Understanding Risk: What Do Those Headlines Really Mean?(National Institutes of Health)
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Understanding Screening Trials(National Cancer Institute)
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Guide to Understanding Informed Consent
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Tutorials
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Clinical Trials(Patient Education Institute)
Also available in Spanish
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Participating in Clinical Trials
(National Library of Medicine)
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Clinical Trials(Patient Education Institute)
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Videos
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Children and Clinical Studies(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Marfan Foundation, National Center for Research Resources)
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Children and Clinical Studies
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Research
- Placebo Effect(American Academy of Neurology)
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Research into What Works Best(National Institutes of Health) - Links to PDF
- Study Examines Success Rates of Phase III Clinical Trials(American Cancer Society)
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Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: De testimonio: on the evidence for decisions about the use...
- Article: Clinical trials - more than an assessment of treatment effect:...
- Article: National and multinational prospective trial registers.
- Clinical Trials -- see more articles
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Dictionaries/Glossaries
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Glossary of Clinical Trials Terms(National Institutes of Health)
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Glossary of Clinical Trials Terms
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Directories
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Search Clinical Trials(National Institutes of Health)
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Search the Studies(National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Search Clinical Trials
- Organizations Return to top
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Law and Policy
- Medicare and Clinical Research Studies(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - Links to PDF
- Medicare Clinical Trial Policies(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
- Reporting Complaints Related to FDA-Regulated Clinical Trials(Food and Drug Administration)
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States That Require Health Plans to Cover Patient Care Costs in Clinical Trials(National Cancer Institute)
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Children
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Children and Clinical Studies
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Marfan Foundation, National Center for Research Resources)
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Children's Assent to Clinical Trial Participation(National Cancer Institute)
- Should Your Child Be in a Clinical Trial?(Food and Drug Administration)
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Children and Clinical Studies
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Women
- Women's Participation in Clinical Trials(Food and Drug Administration)
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Seniors
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Participating in Clinical Trials(National Library of Medicine)
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Participating in Clinical Trials
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Date last updated: 26 November 2008 Topic last reviewed: 26 November 2008 |