Yes. It's not always pleasant, but it can be nice, and it's certainly better than going completely untreated. Everything related to the trials is free -for you- including blood draws and other diagnostic tests they use to monitor your health.
The risks you face aren't really any worse than you'd face with any other strong treatment for Crohn's. There was one trial in which brain fungus was listed as a potential risk- but they had to list it because it was related to another drug which had a few rare cases in which this brain fungus killed some people. I've done a dozen or so trials, and that's the only one with any unusual risk involved... and I wasn't really at any risk of that happening. If you'd like, I can explain it as it was explained to me, but the short of it is that they included the warning just in case.
The biggest problem I had with the clinical trials was that they didn't really control my symptoms. Because of the nature of the program, I was always closely monitored, so I was never in any risk of becoming so ill I'd be in danger... but I was also rarely anywhere close to remission. Some of them didn't work at all. Some didn't work very well. A couple actually made me worse. Even when they came close, I often got unlucky. Again, due to the nature of the trial and the rigid requirements of the scientific method, the studies are always double-blind. Meaning you don't know if you're actually on the drug... and neither does the local staff. As a way of making sure you're not experiencing a placebo effect, most participants are re-randomized. This means that, in a few cases, I was receiving treatment, and then it was suddenly replaced with placebo. I don't know for sure, of course, but my symptoms just don't behave that way. They are random and unpredictable, but they are unrelenting. I am ALWAYS flaring. Even now, they are only held at bay, not gone or subdued.
So there are some definite downsides. However, there are also a lot of benefits. For one, you get free treatment and observation, which is not something to be scoffed at even with insurance. That was my primary motivation. Another is that it may help you find a treatment that actually works. I've been on every type of pharmaceutical treatment for Crohn's that exists, FDA approved or otherwise. Using that information, once I was back on my parent's insurance, I designed my current treatment plan. After some tweaking, it has resulted in a tolerable symptom level, which is better than I could have done without the experience of the trials.
There's also the less tangible benefit of serving humanity. I was part of the trials that allowed Humira to be FDA approved for Crohn's. Even if I do nothing else the rest of my life, I have that. I have suffered on behalf of my fellow man, and lived to see some good come of it. I can't describe how immensely proud I am of that. Even the trials that did not result in approval (yet) have helped my fellow Crohnies. The more the researchers learn about
Crohn's, the more they'll be able to do to cure it.
Post Edited (Bane) : 11/24/2012 11:10:52 PM (GMT-7)