by Editor
August 25, 2006
If you’re up for participation in an FM pain-management trial, the American Pain Foundation site provides a state-by-state list of links to more than 70 U.S. medical and research centers that may be actively recruiting now or soon.
Go to http://www.centerwatch.com/ctrc/painfoundation/trials.asp and click on “Fibromyalgia.” The American Pain Foundation maintains this information in partnership with CenterWatch, an information provider serving the clinical trials sector. But note two things:
n Many of these listings are for drug trials, and may be part of larger national “multi-center” trials. An example is the ongoing and evolving series of trials involving different protocols for Milnacipran, which because of its mechanism of action has been studied for relief of three symptoms – pain, depression, and fatigue – in large groups of Fibromyalgia patients.
n Also note that the listings are not exactly up-to-date, but are an excellent starting point, because they connect you with research centers interested in trials and studies of FM pain and other symptoms. Our own phone call to the research center nearest us – the Sacramento Research Medical Group – indicated they have just wrapped up one Milnacipran study and are about to recruit for another trial that will “tweak” the protocol, as indicated by findings from the previous trial.
Not all centers will go on to this phase of the trial, they note. They’ve been chosen because, as one of the highest-enrolling sites for previous phases of the trial, they will have less difficulty enrolling participants for the next phase in a timely manner. They’re also involved in trials of other FM-related drugs for other pharmaceutical companies.
And they remind that potential participants in any trial involving a drug or other therapy will need to be within traveling distance of the participating center.
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