1.9 Drug testing

• • Test on animals, for toxicity
  • Test on small group of healthy volunteers, for side effects
  • Test on small group of patients with the disease, for dosage & side effects
  • Test on large group of patients in a double blind trial
  • One group is given the drug, the other is given the placebo, to prevent bias + validity
• How did William Withering test drugs?

  • No pre-clinical trials
  • No small group of healthy volunteers
  • Immediately did large group of patients
• Compare modern drug testing with WW:

  -Safety

  • More regulations
  • Pre-clinical trials on animals/cells before ppl

  -Validity

  • Double blind trial & placebo
  • CVs e.g. age

  -Reliable

  • More ppl