Comment by alan-crowe

People with serious illnesses long to get on to a clinical trial, hoping to get the latest and best treatment, even before it is approved. But it is not really like that. Only one phase III drug in ten really helps. And what of the other nine? Derek Lowe doesn't go into the downside, so I'm left to guess that eight out of ten do neither good nor harm and one in ten get their trial stopped in a panic when they turn out to be harmful. By all means volunteer for a clinical trial as an altruistic act, hoping to advance science and confer a benefit on those who come after. With such a high failure rate, the expected benefit is likely net zero.