What is a Clinical Trial?

A clinical trial is a research study conducted to evaluate a potential medical treatment for a specific medical condition. The medical treatments under study are usually investigational medications or devices developed by pharmaceutical companies. Clinical trials are designed to answer important research questions about these investigational treatments and to determine if a medication is safe and effective in treating the medical condition being evaluated. Occasionally a pharmaceutical company performs a clinical trial that compares commercially available therapies for effectiveness and patient preferences. Other examples include, testing new antibiotics, cholesterol and asthma medications.