Tom - Interview 14  

Tom - Interview 14

Age at Interview: 63
Sex: Male
Background: Tom is a retired engineer. He’s married with 2 adult sons. Ethnic background/nationality: White Scottish.

Brief outline:Tom took part in a phase 2 trial of a new chemotherapy drug for lung cancer in 1993. Without the trial, the only other option at the time would have been palliative radiotherapy.

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When someone is seriously ill it’s not the best time to explain clinical trials. We need more general awareness, to challenge the idea that research is about being a ‘guinea pig’.

 



When a person is in the system it’s not always at diagnosis that’s the best time to talk to them about different things, because at diagnosis, you’re, “Oh God, I’ve got this, I’ve got that, I’ve got the other.” Well, you’ve got to give people a chance for that to register, and it’s all very well saying, “Well, we’ll give patients all the information there and then.” That is not necessarily the best time to do it. But I think in general, I think there could be more awareness made regarding clinical trials, whether it be through newspaper articles, or wherever where people get the opportunity of really understanding what they are and what they’re about, rather than, I suppose, the general consensus of opinion is still the guinea pig effect. And it’s not necessarily the guinea pig syndrome kind of thing, and I think that’s perhaps what needs to be more expressed and more explained to people.

Clinical trials
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