Episode 47: Pharma markets drugs to young adults, so why aren't they included in trials?

Sneha Dave has been living with a chronic disease for 17 years — almost her entire life. Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was 6 years old, she has experienced firsthand the frustrating and often terrifying side effects of drugs that were not tested on people her own age. So when she sees Instagram posts and TikTok videos from pharmaceutical companies that are geared toward her generation, she bristles that many companies haven't bothered to include adolescents and young adults in clinical trials testing new medicines. In this episode, Pat talks with Sneha about the ways in which pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations should be reaching out to adolescents and young adults to include them in clinical trials.