The process of drug testing is a long and complicated one. Many people outside the medical research and pharmaceutical industries do not know the amount of work that drug manufacturers have to do before a new drug is created, tested and certified fit for human beings. The process begins with elaborate research. Maybe an ailment has defied all drugs that cure related medical conditions. In effect, there is no drug for this particular disease yet so medical pharmaceutical researchers are working on discovering a new drug. In this case, many compounds and chemicals are tried and tested until the right one is found.
Note that at this point, the drug cannot be considered a cure for the ailment in question because it has not passed all the rigorous tests it has to undergo before it is certified safe. Drug testing is first carried out on animals like guinea pigs and rats. In some cases, drugs are tested on monkeys. This is because these animals have a constitution that is closely related to that of humans. In effect, if a drug works on monkeys, it should work on humans too. Again, if monkeys do not experience any adverse drug reactions or side effects, it is safe to assume that the drug will be safe for human beings.
After testing the drug on “approved animals”, the next stage is to test the drug on humans. Now, this is a delicate business because things might easily get complicated. Remember that the drug is not one hundred percent safe yet. In fact, the purpose of the test on humans is to find out if the drug will work for human beings and if it is safe. It follows that human beings that volunteer for drug testing at this stage may be taking a risk. Of course, everything is done to protect the humans involved in this test but the unexpected may still happen.
Different categories of people get involved in drug testing. In some cases, severely sick people may volunteer for the test. This is understandable because such people are willing to take the risk because they think the drug will work and they will get a permanent solution to their medical problem. During the last Ebola outbreak a few years ago, patients in Africa volunteered to be tested for new Ebola drugs even though the drugs in question had not been certified one hundred percent safe. In some cases, prisoners may be compelled to play the role of human guinea pigs. Clearly, this is an unethical matter and it is not common in advanced countries. However, some prisoners serving long sentences may even volunteers to be tested if they are promised early release after undergoing the tests. In some extreme cases, the pharmaceutical expert may test the drug on himself or on close family relations. It takes a lot of courage to do this but then, a researcher taking this step has a lot of confidence in the product and is sure that those undergoing these tests will not come to any harm.
Drugs are also tested to ensure that they are safe for long term or short term use. These tests also take into account side effects, contraindications, drug interference and other adverse effects. The testing also includes low dosage tests, high dosage tests, and medium dosage tests. Note that all human beings are not configured the same way. A drug that works perfectly for some people may not work for other people. Again, some people may experience side effects and adverse reactions while other people may not. All these factors make drug testing complicated. This is applicable to cranberry pills drug test. It is also applicable to drug tests for other drugs.
In the event that a particular drug has passed all the relevant tests, it takes time to get approval by the relevant agencies and regulatory bodies. To get a new drug approved, the manufacturers of the drug have to answer many questions. They need to publish the results of their research, submit details of drug testing information and state the chemical composition of the drug. The drug will only be approved if the regulatory body is completely satisfied.
Manufacturing a new drug is a tall order. All the right steps have to be followed and drug testing should be carried out the right way. Once these things are done, the drug will be approved and certified safe for use by humans.