Kids Health Matters: Clinical trials
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Clinical trials are a vital part of improving medical care and saving lives.
It's been 15 years since Kevin Brighter got what he calls "the best gift of all" from his dad - a kidney transplant.
Keeping the kidney healthy takes a lot of medication and Kevin says he "takes about 5 pills, every morning, every night."
And they must be taken every 12 hours.
When Kevin was little, his parents handled that.
In his early teens, he got more involved, memorizing the medications to understand what he was taking. And he helped fill his pillbox.
But, he wasn't consistent in taking them and that became a family sore spot.
His dad, Kevin Brighter, Sr. says, "It had come to serious arguments sometimes - you got to take your medicine."
Kevin's family enrolled in clinical trials at Children's Hospital, testing novel ways to get & keep adolescent transplant patients on schedule.
Dr. Susan Furth, who heads one trial, says busy lives, forgetfulness, or self-consciousness about being 'different' often play a role, though all contribute to the same danger.
She says, "You're at really high risk of rejecting the transplant."
In Kevin's trial, a peer coach helps him with a common hurdle.
"I have a part-time job, which sometimes I can work till 10 o'clock at night, and not get home till 10:30, 10:45," says Kevin.
He gets cell phone reminders when medications are due, as well as text messages.
And he has another clever helper.
"I drive now, so I have a key-chain with extra pills in it, so if I'm not home at the time, I'll be able to take them while I'm out," Kevin added.
Kevin wants to have his regimen down pat by fall, when he goes to LaSalle University to pursue his big dream.
"My life goal is to print myself a 3-D viable kidney that I'll be able to use," said Kevin.
Dr. Furth says whether the goal is to learn how to take drugs better, or the effectiveness of the new drugs themselves, medical breakthroughs wouldn't be possible without clinical trials, and the families who volunteer for them.
