Business Insight presented by Arlington Dermatology Risk and Benefit in Medicine Every time you visit a doctor's office for a medical condition, and you receive a prescription as a treatment, your doctor must assess your chances of this prescription drug helping you. First, the correct diagnosis must be established. Secondly, your current list of other medication must be reviewed. Not all drugs agree with each other. Some may be contra-indicated, some others are fine to go along, but must be taken several hours apart. The key is to make sure that your doctor maximizes your chance of getting better by delivering minimal risk and maximal benefit. The same rule applies to clinical research. There is always a risk in taking any medication. People can get seriously sick from regular aspirin. But the more information you have about the drug, the better you can assess the risk/benefit ratio. When you are a part of a clinical trial, your doctor must make the same assessment of your risk and benefit. This is why some early clinical trials in phase 1 are done only on healthy people who have much lesser risk of taking any drug. Clinical studies in phases 2 and 3 introduce the new drug to a larger population, with a particular disease in treatment, and they apply strict inclusions and exclusions to every patient. These criteria are established by the group of medical doctors and scientists who have studied the particular drugs for years, in the lab and in human use, and they share their knowledge through to a very strict protocol. We, as a site conduct the study, must train and follow the protocol to the dot. We further must learn many other parts of the project, often hundreds of pages to read, usually based on historical knowledge acquired over the time of development of the drug. It is a long process, and it requires a lot of patience and clinical preparation. Our doctors and research staff do not conduct phase 1 trials. We focus on phase 2 and 3, while we also occasionally conduct phase 4 studies, which are done after the drug is approved for use. It takes us any time from 2-6 months to start the study enrollment. This time is mostly spent on training, reading assigned materials, and yes, assessing the risk and benefit ratio. If, at any point of the process, we conclude that the risk might be higher than benefit, we do not participate in the study. We simply care more about the safety of our patients and future users of the drug than anything else. provide all of us with better options. New New medical science is necessary to drugs make our chronic problems more manageable. If you only ask some of our their experience with clinical studies, they psoriasis patients or eczema patients about all feel the same enthusiasm. Not only did they become the front runners of medical science, but they had a chance to learn a ton and receive free medical care for a long. It is not unique for these patients to duration of the study, which can be years- have a hard time transitioning to regular care, as their routines in clinical research were different and they enjoyed being a part of the science. wish to discuss any clinical research topics Please, contact our research team if you or find out more about our on-going studies. Michael Bukhalo, MD Arlington Dermatology 5301 Keystone Court Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 Tel. 847 392 5440 | www.arlingtondermatology.net Business Insight presented by Arlington Dermatology Risk and Benefit in Medicine Every time you visit a doctor's office for a medical condition , and you receive a prescription as a treatment , your doctor must assess your chances of this prescription drug helping you . First , the correct diagnosis must be established . Secondly , your current list of other medication must be reviewed . Not all drugs agree with each other . Some may be contra - indicated , some others are fine to go along , but must be taken several hours apart . The key is to make sure that your doctor maximizes your chance of getting better by delivering minimal risk and maximal benefit . The same rule applies to clinical research . There is always a risk in taking any medication . People can get seriously sick from regular aspirin . But the more information you have about the drug , the better you can assess the risk / benefit ratio . When you are a part of a clinical trial , your doctor must make the same assessment of your risk and benefit . This is why some early clinical trials in phase 1 are done only on healthy people who have much lesser risk of taking any drug . Clinical studies in phases 2 and 3 introduce the new drug to a larger population , with a particular disease in treatment , and they apply strict inclusions and exclusions to every patient . These criteria are established by the group of medical doctors and scientists who have studied the particular drugs for years , in the lab and in human use , and they share their knowledge through to a very strict protocol . We , as a site conduct the study , must train and follow the protocol to the dot . We further must learn many other parts of the project , often hundreds of pages to read , usually based on historical knowledge acquired over the time of development of the drug . It is a long process , and it requires a lot of patience and clinical preparation . Our doctors and research staff do not conduct phase 1 trials . We focus on phase 2 and 3 , while we also occasionally conduct phase 4 studies , which are done after the drug is approved for use . It takes us any time from 2-6 months to start the study enrollment . This time is mostly spent on training , reading assigned materials , and yes , assessing the risk and benefit ratio . If , at any point of the process , we conclude that the risk might be higher than benefit , we do not participate in the study . We simply care more about the safety of our patients and future users of the drug than anything else . provide all of us with better options . New New medical science is necessary to drugs make our chronic problems more manageable . If you only ask some of our their experience with clinical studies , they psoriasis patients or eczema patients about all feel the same enthusiasm . Not only did they become the front runners of medical science , but they had a chance to learn a ton and receive free medical care for a long . It is not unique for these patients to duration of the study , which can be years have a hard time transitioning to regular care , as their routines in clinical research were different and they enjoyed being a part of the science . wish to discuss any clinical research topics Please , contact our research team if you or find out more about our on - going studies . Michael Bukhalo , MD Arlington Dermatology 5301 Keystone Court Rolling Meadows , IL 60008 Tel . 847 392 5440 | www.arlingtondermatology.net