Information on Clinical Trials for Children

Performing medical experiments on children may seem like something out of a horror film, but that is what a clinical trial is. Clinical trials for children can range from trying a new drug to undergoing a new treatment. These trials have resulted in great advancements in medicine, according to information from the Duke University Health System.

Why Children?

• Children are not "little adults," according to Dr. Renee Jenkins, pediatrician, past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Often a doctor's treatment plan for a child is based on research done with adult patients. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says that clinical trials in children can help doctors identify the right dosages of methods for children, find treatments for children who are affected by diseases that strike both children and adults and help doctors find treatments for problems that only happen in childhood.

Are They Safe?

• There is a fear among parents that a clinical trial could result in their children getting sicker or even dying. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has guidelines designed to protect children involved in clinical trials. These guidelines state that the risks to children involved in these studies should be minimal and the outcomes beneficial to the child or to medical research. Parents have the right to say "no" to allowing their child to participate in a clinical study.

Benefits to Families

• Before agreeing to allow their children to participate in a clinical trial, parents want to know how it can help their children. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, clinical trials give children access to new drugs or treatments, give families more information about the condition and results in a closer monitoring of the child than what may have occurred in a normal setting. Sometimes the child in the clinical trial is the first one to benefit from a new drug or treatment.

Benefits to Medicine

• Clinical trials conducted on children have saved lives, according to Dr. David Benjamin of the Duke University Health System. Just 100 years ago, one out of every six children did not live to see their fifth birthday, he said. Clinical trials have led to the survival of most children who are diagnosed with leukemia while just 50 years ago, leukemia was almost always fatal in children. Polio has been eradicated because of clinical trials in children. The lives of premature babies have been saved because of research that showed doctors how to help them breath.