But even now, bad research slips through the net. In last week s Lancet, the editor had to report that a trial report of drugs in a severe chronic eye disease, reported some months ago, had not, in fact been conducted properly. The patients had not given their written consent, and some of the claimed authors had never taken part in it. First, you must be able to give informed consent to your doctors beforehand. A first study has to be very carefully monitored, with the patients in a specialist unit with great experience.
Many studies involve blood tests and exercise tests, and some involve night-time monitoring.
Make sure beforehand exactly how much your life will be disturbed, and whether you can manage to cope with it. Ask, too, exactly how long the trial will last, including the follow up afterwards. This can be a bind for some people. Not everything you feel wrong with you on a drug trial is caused by the drug. You may feel odd because of a reaction to the drug, or you may simply have a cold or another illness that you blame, wrongly, on it.