Frequently Asked Questions

What is a clinical trial?

Rapid advances in knowledge lead to development of promising new drugs. But they must be carefully evaluated before we can use them in everyday practice. A clinical trial is a research study testing how well new medical approaches work for people.

Clinical research enables doctors and researchers to find new and better ways to understand, detect, control and treat illness. The federal government (National Institutes of Health) and pharmaceutical companies that have developed new drugs sponsor many clinical trials.

What are the different types of clinical trials?

New drug testing progresses in a very orderly series of steps known as Phases 1, 2, and 3. This process helps to protect patients and to ensure reliable information.

Phase 1 clinical trials test new drugs for the first time. The objective is to determine a safe dosage range and identify any side effects. Drugs that complete Phase 1 then move on into Phase 2 and Phase 3 to further evaluate their effectiveness treating a particular medical condition.

Agewell^® Health only offers medications that have successfully passed Phase 1 testing and have already progressed to Phase 2 or Phase 3. Phase 2 studies usually compare one drug to another or to a placebo (“sugar pill”). Phase 3 usually compares different drug dosages or combinations.

Who can participate in a clinical trial?

The protocol describes specific types of people that can participate. Common criteria are based on age, sex, severity of disease, previous treatment, and other existing medical conditions.

Specific details like these help promote safety by ensuring that the clinical trial does what is supposed to do.

What happens in a clinical trial?

Every clinical trial has an action plan called a protocol that acts as a “recipe” for conducting it. It provides a set of rules determining the schedule of tests, procedures, medications, dosages, and length of the study. The protocol also specifies detailed ongoing monitoring to ensure that the drug is safe for participants.