From household painkillers to cancer cures, all medical treatments are tested in clinical trials before they can be used in the real world. After thorough testing in the lab, clinical trials recruit people to try out treatments and study their effects. It's a crucial stage in every new medical advance - and one that's handled carefully to protect the health of those who take part as much as possible.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/news-and-features/what-is-a-clinical-trial-2