title: Could digital patient communities be the launch pad for patient-centric trial design?
abstract: The system of medical discovery does not revolve around patients as unique individuals with preferences, needs, and desires. Rather it revolves around scientific scrutiny, the needs of the sponsor, and the desires for regulatory approval. The patient is only a subject. Is it any wonder, then, that some patients have rejected the current medical paradigm and sought to find their own path?
authors.affiliation: PatientsLikeMe, 155 2nd Street, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA. pwicks@patientslikeme.com.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wicks
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D015438:Health Behavior; D063005:Health Information Systems; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D012107:Research Design