Anytime you get a review in which the reviewer says, “I could not put this book down,” it’s a good day. When that praise comes from an anthropologist and is followed with, “This book is a must read for those contemplating volunteering for a clinical trial (advice in the Afterward), and it also provides discussion [...]

Review of Medical Miracles in American Scientist magazine says, in part, “…The two books already discussed, which are soberly academic in tone, were written by scholars pursuing broad explanatory themes and universal ethical principles. Alex O’Meara’s Chasing Medical Miracles, the first-person account of a clinical-trial subject, is almost breezy in comparison—the book is a page-turner…”

Dr. Scott Gottleib, a former deputy commissioner at the FDA, reviewed Chasing Medical Miracles favorably in today’s Wall Street Journal…

“Mr. O’Meara is adept at portraying clinical trials and in discussing ethical concerns — about CROs possibly skewing results to favor the interests of the drug companies that hire them, and about the financial incentive for clinical-trial applicants to lie about their medical history. “

A review of Chasing Medical Miracles in the latest issue of New Scientist magazine is below. I am proud of the fact that the book holds up under scrutiny from such a well-respected publication.

Enjoy this bracing tour through “the history, horror, and headaches” of clinical trials, described by a guide with both a detached delivery and knowledgeable perspective… His investigation briskly sails through the interests that spark clinical trials, the money that pays for them and the “bonanza of cash and/or equipment and medications” for developing countries where researchers find it cheaper to recruit trial subjects… O’Meara presents lessons from a medical front that offers something more important than success or failure—hope. “I’m still able to say, ’At least I tried.’” O’Meara notes.