If it weren't for the thousands of clinical trials involving human participants that medical researchers conduct every year, there would no way to know if new drugs or methods of treatment would be safe and effective for use by humans. More than 3,000 clinical trials have been conducted in South Carolina since 1999. However, the rates of participation in trials for African Americans and other minorities are very low, and medical authorities in the state and around the nation are working to increase participation by African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Among them is Dr. Marvella Ford, associate director of cancer disparities at the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Bhakti Larry Hough interviews Dr. Ford on the current edition of Insight.
For more information about clinical trials, visit: http://www.scresearch.org/
Insight airs Monday and Wednesday at 10 a.m., 7 p.m. and midnight.
