Yesterday I received a mailer inviting me to join a psoriasis medication clinical trial. It would be a five year study for a biologic drug I’ve heard of, but don’t know much about. The strange coincidence is that a friend recently asked me if I would be willing to join a clinical trial. My dermatologist even asked me if I wanted to see a colleague of hers who is involved in clinical trials. Is this a sign to heed, to truly consider, or something to ignore?
As a disclaimer I’ve never participated in any kind of clinical trial. I have inquired about trying medications when they are approved by the FDA, but never a day before. On one hand it might be a real option if there seemed to be no other viable effective treatments, I didn’t have access to adequate insurance coverage, or I desired to assist the medical community in that way. On the other hand, I would not enjoy the washout period. I don’t want to even imagine where my psoriasis would be if I didn’t treat it for long enough for my current medications to exit my system. And what if I were part of the control group that didn’t initially get the medication, even if they promised it later? What if it proved ineffective, or worse yet, I sustained a horrible side effect? Some drugs, like Raptiva, have had to be pulled out of the market even after FDA approval. Would I want to join in the trial phase?
Yet, despite these objections, I’m still tempted to call the number listed on the mailer. My treatment is going fairly well, but I will need to change it soon. I do have good health insurance coverage, but most of the medications out there don’t work that well with me. Each time my dermatologist brings up old therapies such as ultraviolet light, methotrexate, or soriatane, I just say no. I won’t budge on those because I know what they’ve done to me, including burns, severe gastrointestinal pain, and painful pealing of my palms and soles. What’s the old adage, the treatment is worse than the disease? That’s my sentiment toward those old treatments.
If you’ve participated in a clinical trial and would like to share about your experience feel free to leave a comment. For more information on psoriasis clinical trials visit the National Psoriasis Foundation website page on clinical trials. They have an information sheet and a link to finding clinical trials in your area for both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. For a list of questions you might want to ask before joining a clinical trial you can go here.