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Available for over a year

A few days ago I was in a hospital clinic having medication pumped into me as part of my treatment for cancer. Just before the treatment started, blood samples were taken and whizzed off to a lab to be checked on behalf of a pharmaceutical company. That’s because I’ve joined a clinical trial to test one of the new generation of drugs for targeting very specific cancers. Joining a clinical trial seemed an offer I couldn’t refuse. The drug concerned is not only one of the most advanced around with promising test results so far, but it costs tens of thousands of pounds a course and the NHS has already said it can’t afford it. The issue of what the NHS will pay for is in the headlines again after it was announced that a special pot of money for life-saving drugs is to be restricted. The Cancer Drugs Fund was set up four years ago by David Cameron, giving patients access to treatments not usually available on the NHS. Drugs are only routinely available if the NHS thinks they are cost-effective but now this special fund will also be limited for the same reason. The websites of the leading cancer charities are full of advice about how to get on to clinical trials, and you have to satisfy rigorous conditions about your general health before taking part. No wonder I, like many people, want to do it: being part of a clinical trial paid for by a drug company enables patients to find a way round the financial limits on treatment, and I can stop thinking about competing with others for NHS cash for my needs. But I’ve learnt something else happens when you’re part of a clinical trial: it transforms what can otherwise be a very lonely, isolating experience. As a member of a trial, I’m no longer just an individual but part of a team working together. The treatment might not in the end benefit me personally – there are no guarantees – but helps researchers get closer to achieving a successful outcome. It is what Catholic Social Teaching calls working for the Common Good – confirming humanity’s interdependence. God did not create us for futility, but that we would work together for one another’s flourishing. While I am getting one of the latest drugs through my clinical trial, I’m also getting conventional treatments. Once they were experimental too and are only available now thanks to previous guinea pigs. They and their doctors, and those involved today, are not only helping discover new treatments and even cures, but are offering a different concept of medicine. It’s not about being one individual patient, but being part of a greater picture, and confirming the importance of being in solidarity with one another.