The Dr. Seuss and Clinical Trials Connection

While I’ve learned first-hand about the infinite joys of parenthood, one experience enjoyed this weekend taught me an old lesson, or two.

On Saturday, I took my children to see Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” at our local theater. Firstly, I realized how nice it’s been to become re-exposed to books I’d likely read in kindergarten, but may have failed to grasp at that age – or simply forgot. Many books, including the Dr. Seuss collection contain messages that are equally valuable to be reminded of as an adult. What’s particularly interesting, is how as an adult, we can relate our messages to, well, more adult themes. Being that I’ve ate, slept and dreamt about clinical research during these formidable past business start-up months – it was only natural that my mind associated the story of The Lorax to our industry. 

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of reading or watching Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, the story is about a young entrepreneur who cuts down Truffula trees to harvest its crop without any regard for the environmental impact of the trees’ existence, or how a tree (or Truffula-less) society would impact future generations to come. Turns out, he cut all the trees, leaving the town without any capability to manufacture fresh air. The movie was beautiful to watch and as whimsical as a Dr. Seuss production could be…but it was the final message at the end of the movie that truly caught my attention…and it was this. UNLESS someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

So what’s the association with clinical trials you ask? Great question, my wife had the same one.

The trees, which are limited in quantity and extremely hard to find in the first place can represent the shrinking pool of future potential study participants. Study participants are great for our society, beautiful creatures, most of which don’t even understand the gravity of their contributions to the world…just like trees don’t pat themselves on the trunk for providing photosynthesis…Anyhow, every negative story aired or published in mainstream media that gives our business a bad name, without a future positive story on research – is another fallen Truffula Tree. Perhaps the trees in my whimsical daydream represent the willingness of our neighbors to participate in clinical trials…and every chopped tree chips away at the chances that they might someday plant a seed for future generation.

It’s a stretch I know, but think of it this way. Bad stories will never end. They seem to be part of the news cycle. There’s not much we can do to prevent them, but when we do see a tree cut down, why not plant a seed in its place. That seed might someday foster some good person’s willingness to contribution towards clinical research, and just might save or improve someone else’s life. Once again, I’ll leave you with the story’s message.

UNLESS someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.