Risky to be part of clinical trial?

Black Parents May Be More Likely to Distrust Medical Research

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February 3, 2009 ... February issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

"Among minority groups, African Americans are frequently underrepresented in clinical research," ... African Americans' distrust of medical research has been suggested to be an important reason for their lack of participation. ... "African American parents were significantly more likely than white parents to believe that medical research involved too much risk to the participant;

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A friend of mine was a doctor when he was in China and is not working at a hospital but not as a doctor any more. Once I asked him if he would be interested in being recruited to any clinical trial. He said Definitely not! The reason? Pretty much the same as those "black parents", in believing medical research involves too much risk to the participant: What if you get seriously sick by trying those not fully tested drugs? You don't want to be a guinea pig, said my friend.