How to Get Results of Clinical Trials

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By Katherine Williams
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Get Results of Clinical Trials

Conducting clinical trials is an important way for pharmaceutical companies to test new drugs and treatments for safety and effectiveness. Many people decide to participate in clinical trials to get access to new drug therapies and free physician care and follow up. To obtain results of clinical trials take the steps outlined below:

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Ability to compose a formal letter.
Ability to verbally express your expectations.

Step 1

VERBALLY ASK TO BE NOTIFIED OF RESULTS:

There is no federal mandate requiring the government or the pharmaceutical industry to notify participants of clinical trial results. You should let it be known up front, when meeting with clinical trial conductors and before signing up for the trial that you wish to be notified of the results when the study is complete. While they are not obligated to disclose the information to you, they usually will if you inform them at registration of your expectations.
Step 2

PUT YOUR REQUEST IN WRITING:

Write letters to the researcher, FDA, and drug company that is conducting the clinical trial you are participating in. In your letter, request to be notified in writing of the results. Keep a copy of the letter for your records. Once again, there is no law requiring that you be given the results, but a nice formal letter in writing gets positive responses and will usually be enough to get those results mailed to you.
Step 3

CHECK OTHER SOURCES FOR RESULTS:

Check out current medical journals for results. Medical journals list medical research findings and clinical trial results. You can also check the website of the specific pharmaceutical company that is manufacturing the experimental drug, as some drug companies are all about transparency and are happy to list study results on their websites.