Fact or Fiction? Take the Clinical Trials Quiz

Many aspects of clinical trials can be confusing or complicated. Before you consider joining a clinical trial, see how well you understand the nuts and bolts of clinical trials.

1. Once you sign, the informed consent document requires you to stay in the study until it ends.

True    False

2. In clinical trials, researchers always decide who gets what treatments.

True    False

3. Clinical trials test the safety and effectiveness of new medicines and other medical products.

True    False

4. An Institutional Review Board is a panel of medical experts who decides whether a clinical trial deserves funding from the federal government.

True    False

5. Researchers must decide how many people they will enroll in a clinical trial before the trial starts.

True    False

6. Sponsors of clinical trials must pay for all injuries that you receive during a study.

True    False

7. Pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and even individual investigators can sponsor clinical trials.

True    False

8. Both healthy and sick people can participate in clinical trials.

True    False

9. You need to provide informed consent only for clinical trials that last more than seven days.

True    False

 

Answers

1. Once you sign, the informed consent document requires you to stay in the study until it ends.

False

The informed consent document provides information about the study. It ensures that you understand what the trial involves. It does not force you to remain in the study, and you can leave the study at any time.

2. In clinical trials, researchers always decide who gets what treatments.

False

In most clinical trials, researchers use a randomized method of assigning participants to each treatment. In a randomized trial, the choice of treatment is made by chance, like the flip of a coin, and researchers have no say in choosing a particular treatment.

3. Clinical trials test the safety and effectiveness of new medicines and other medical products.

True

The Food and Drug Administration requires that new drugs work well and work safely before they are approved. Clinical trials are the best way to prove that new products are safe and effective.

4. An Institutional Review Board is a panel of medical experts who decides whether a clinical trial deserves funding from the federal government.

False

An Institutional Review Board is a panel of interested people, including doctors and community members, who review clinical trials and ensure that they are ethical and as safe as possible for you.

5. Researchers must decide how many people they will enroll in a clinical trial before the trial starts.

True

Researchers create a specific protocol for each clinical trial. The protocol states what will happen in the trial in detail. Some details include the number of people who will participate, the schedule of tests you will undergo, and how long the study will take.