Local cardiology practice among regional leaders in clinic trial participation
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in chief
Ask people to name the top Midwestern health centers for participation in clinical research trials and you’ll likely get answers ranging from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
There’s little chance someone would name Aurora Burlington Clinic among those giants.
But when it comes to participation in clinical research studies of certain types of heart medications, the local clinic is at the top of the list.
“People at St. Luke’s don’t necessarily like to hear that Burlington is enrolling more people (in clinical studies),” local cardiologist Stephen Welka said, referring to the renown Milwaukee heart hospital that is also part of the Aurora system. “But that’s the way it is.”
Welka and nurse Lori Weber, who serves as research coordinator for the clinic’s cardiology department, have been the driving force behind the program that helps keep them on the cutting edge of cardiology medication and offers local patients new treatment options.
And it’s done in the interest of advancing science, according to Welka, who has spearheaded the program that has been in place for the past five years.
“I consider it a normal part of a cardiovascular practice,” he said. “Back East (participation in clinical research) was expected. It was frowned upon if you didn’t participate.”
By doing so, according to Welka, his practice is able to offer its patients many of the same options they would have in large metropolitan hospitals or celebrated research centers.
“If you come to Burlington and have a heart problem, there’s not much we can’t provide here,” he said. “We’re offering patients that standard of care.”
The phase III clinical trials the local clinic participates in usually involve patients taking experimental medication for specific heart-related ailments – abnormal heart rhythm, or atrial fibrillation, for example.
Because it is a phase III trial, the drug has already been determined safe for use, Welka said, and “there really are no ethical questions.” The information gathered from participants is typically used to gage the efficacy of the drug compared to similar medications currently in use.
In most cases, the trials are conducted internationally and the results determine what new drugs will be used to treat specific disorders in the future. Typically there is at least a year lag from when the trials are completed and the results are published.
Welka’s Burlington Clinic practice is currently offering patients the option of enrolling in four different clinical trials – TRILOGY and Dal-Outcomes for treatment of acute coronary syndrome, ORBIT-AF for atrial fibrillation, and Alecardio for treatment of heart patients with diabetes.
Patients have the choice of whether to participate or not. Those who do participate receive free medication and any additional visits and tests required as part of the trial are also free.
“They’re not going to get billed for research-specific tests and medications,” Weber said, noting that she and Welka select studies that best match their patient population.
“What we see here are non-recycled patients,” Welka said. “We see a lot of farmers who work until they’re dying and then they come in.”
He said most participants are eager and enthusiastic and “feel that they’re contributing to science or the next generation.”
Welka is compensated by the manufacturers for his services directly related to the trial, but he called it a breakeven proposition.
“It’s not driven by money,” he said, adding that the networking and academic aspects of the trials are most beneficial to his practice. “It keeps you in the game.”
Weber echoed that sentiment.
“If you’re not continuing to learn, it’s time to retire,” she said.
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