What to Know Before Enrolling Your Child in a Clinical Trial

If your child is suffering from a serious condition such as asthma, irritable bowel syndrome or even seasonal allergies, you may wonder if they’re eligible to participate in a clinical trial. It’s important to note that clinical trials for children are different than trials for adults. “Your child isn’t the same as an adult—they’re not even the same as other children. Infants react differently to interventions than their school-aged counterparts, and adolescents respond differently than those who are in puberty,” says Dr. Irina Dralyuk, a pediatric pulmonologist in Cedars-Sinai’s Maxine Dunitz Children’s Health Center. But like clinical trials for adults, pediatric trials could offer children a chance to receive beneficial treatment—a new drug, therapy, device or procedure—before it becomes widely available. Clinical trials explained The goal of clinical trials is to advance scientific knowledge, but not all clinical trials are created equal. Some are noninvasive and require little involvement from study participants. Others test the effects of new therapies, vaccines and procedures and may call for multiple clinic visits, uncomfortable tests and treatments that produce side effects. All studies follow an established protocol that outlines what the trial aims to uncover, who is an ideal candidate, which treatments (if any)...