But this chapter goes into detail about the history and ethical obligations of both the researchers and the participants in clinical trials. Every time I go into a bookstore I look at the health section and, in many bookstores, the number of books on alternative medicine exceeds the number of books on modern medicine. We know so much more than our ancestors did about how the body works and how to treat many diseases that I think people should consider modern medicine before they consider alternative medicine. But let me say a couple of things about that as it relates to cancer clinical trials. First of all, in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, everybody gets the study medication.
Nobody gets the placebo.
In Phase III, it is true that people are randomized and some people get the study medication, but the people who don't get the study medication almost never get inactive medication. Cancer is such a serious illness, it would be unethical to leave somebody untreated. What they do in Phase III cancer clinical trials is compare the new treatment against the current best standard treatment, so nobody is going without treatment. Even if you participate in a Phase III cancer clinical trial, you're guaranteed to get at least the best available standard treatment, or you might get the study medication. Many people really want the study medication.