Question: Does it ever make you hesitant to do your job in the knowledge that drugs can essentially be so dangerous?

Sandra Chiwanza answered on 20 Jun 2014:

No.
The purpose of my job in a nutshell is to make sure thay they are not dangerous. This is a very good question. Sometimes with drugs, it is a fine balance between what can cure you and what can kill you. That is why we have to make sure we get it right in the clinical trial testing phases.
The company for which I work runs and manages clinical trials on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. These are the people who actually make the drugs. Our job is to make sure they are safe and have mininal side effects, particularly ones that can be harmful to your body. This process occurs over a long time. If they are found to be “dangerous” as you put it, we have to notify regulatory agencies such as the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA)that is, the organisations which give Pharmaceutical companies the license to sell those drugs and stop testing drugs. If it is a clinical trial taking place in more than one country, we also notify each participating country’s regulatory body.
Clinical trials are divided into four phases to safe guard against drugs having harmful effects on the body. We also monitor them once they are being used by patients in the real world to keep an eye out on any possible harmful side effects, even minor ones.