Many readers of this blog may be interested in learning a little more about the way medical device and pharmaceutical companies go about “marketing” clinical trials of new techniques and new drugs to the referring physician community and to the patient community. The current US trial of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) offers us an excellent example.
Just go to the UroToday web site (it’s free, but you do have to register) to find a detailed brochure prepared (presumably) for distribution primarily to the urology community. It includes:
- Information about the various trial centers
- Messages from the principal investigator and the medical director of the trial
- Information about a patient awareness campaign being coordinated by one of the world’s largest public relations agencies
- Clinical trial web site information
- Local media campaigns in selected markets
- Information about treatment reimbursement issues that relate to the trial and the availability of guidance from reimbursement specialists
The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink neither endorses or criticizes efforts of this type. To a large extent they reflect the difficulties of enrolling large numbers of patients into clinical trials in the USA today, where competition for the attention of every audience is increasingly intensive.
We post this information here solely to give advocates, patients, and others a “complete picture” of some of the things that go on “behind the scenes” in bringing any new treatment to market today. If you happen to be a patient interested in HIFU, this information may also be helpful.
Filed under: Drugs in development, Tips, Treatment
Many readers of this blog may be interested in learning a little more about the way medical device and pharmaceutical companies go about “marketing” clinical trials of new techniques and new drugs to the referring physician community and to the patient community. The current US trial of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) offers us an excellent example.
Just go to the UroToday web site (it’s free, but you do have to register) to find a detailed brochure prepared (presumably) for distribution primarily to the urology community. It includes:
The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink neither endorses or criticizes efforts of this type. To a large extent they reflect the difficulties of enrolling large numbers of patients into clinical trials in the USA today, where competition for the attention of every audience is increasingly intensive.
We post this information here solely to give advocates, patients, and others a “complete picture” of some of the things that go on “behind the scenes” in bringing any new treatment to market today. If you happen to be a patient interested in HIFU, this information may also be helpful.
Filed under: Drugs in development, Tips, Treatment