clinical trials ontario: 5 things to consider before joining a clinical trial

your participation in a clinical trial is voluntary

you should understand the purpose of the clinical trial

ultimately, the goal of  clinical trials  is to improve medical treatments and peoples’ health and well-being. they are done to provide research data, or evidence, about the treatment tested. however, in different clinical trials, the evidence, or results, can be used in many ways.

there are risks and benefits to being in a clinical trial

how to find out if a clinical trial is reputable

• you should never be asked to pay to participate in a clinical trial. (see the next consideration — you may have some out-of-pocket costs.)
• ask about the qualifications of the clinical trial team. often clinical trials teams have worked in or studied the area of the clinical trial or may have an affiliation with an academic institution such as a university.
• make sure the trial application was reviewed by a regulatory agency. examples of regulatory agencies are health canada and the us food and drug administration. health canada’s role is to ensure canadians have access to safe and effective drugs and health products, and it reviews all clinical trial applications. to find out if the trial application was reviewed, you can ask the clinical trial team, or, for those in canada, you can look on the health canada website.
• you should ensure that the clinical trial was reviewed and approved by a research ethics board (also called “reb” for short). clinical trials must undergo research ethics review from an reb, whose members look at the clinical trial from the perspective of protecting the rights and well-being of people who participate in research.

consider the amount of time that participating in the clinical trial will take, and potential costs.

where can you learn more about clinical trials?

to learn more about what clinical trials are, how they are designed, how to find them and things to know when you’re in a clinical trial, visit  clinical trials ontario’s education modules .

feeling overwhelmed by research-related terms like “intervention” or “informed consent”? clinical trials ontario also has an online glossary that provides definitions of terms related to clinical trials.