therapeutic misconception

The purpose of a clinical trial is to evaluate an experimental therapy or intervention, not to provide therapy. Clinical trial participants, hoping for therapeutic benefits, may not realize that research is aimed primarily at producing knowledge, or that elements of a clinical trial may interfere with their own health care. This failure to understand the difference in the purposes of research versus clinical care is called the “therapeutic misconception”. It may result in an underestimation of the risks or overestimation of the benefits of research participation.