This place advertises for research subjects in our local commuter paper. From the website, they have a well-equipped hospital-like facility, and they pay well (a thousand dollars for a weekend study, for instance).
I could use the cash.
Anyone here ever done this? What are the problems, pitfalls? Are they doing double-blind tests with controls and all? What kind of waivers are involved? Anyone ever come out harmed?
My brother did this several times…according to him, you could choose the type of study that you participated in…he always did the studies on new drugs that were in various stages of development…he found it an easy way to make money, as he played guitar, wrote songs, and wached movies during his stays. I guess usually the “easier” stays pay less money. He never had any ill-effects and found it safe.
I know someone else went to the same place however, and for more money, he participated in something more difficult. He said his blood was drawn every hour for 24+ hours and his arm (upon returning to school) looked as if he had been a severe heroin addict. All clocks are syncronized and the intercom is shouting out instructions, like, “GROUP A and B REPORT TO ____ FOR BLOOD WORK” etc and you have to adhere to a strict schedule and maintain a strict diet…it really freaked him out and he regrets it.
Once my brother was not accepted for a study because his urine was “too diluted” prior to testing.
I participated in two such studies once upon a time, but they were closely related. When my wisdom teeth started acting up, I didn’t want to cough up the money to have them removed, so I volunteered for two studies (one for left side of teeth, one for right) on pain medication following wisdom tooth removal. I wasn’t really looking to make money, so what they paid me I used to afford anesthesia during the procedure.
The study boiled down to getting your wisdom teeth removed and then receiving one of several dosage levels of the test medication, a dosage of the control medication, or a placebo. Then there were a number of blood draws at specified time intervals and self-reporting your pain level at that time; a catheter was left in the arm so you didn’t have to get stuck every time. Measurements were initially taken frequently, then tapered off; something like every 15 minutes the first hour, then every 20 minutes, etc. If the pain became too much to bear, you could ‘opt out’ and receive a regular painkiller; it may have been the same as the control med, but basically something known to work.
In between measurements, you essentially hanged out in their waiting area, watching TV, reading a book, whatever. Soft foods and drinks with straws were provided as well as blankets, pillows, and recliners to relax in. Most people seemed fine with the whole thing, at least as fine (as you can be after having your wisdom teeth out), chilling in their chairs and trying to be as unmiserable as possible. Naturally, though, there were some who WERE miserable, as you can imagine for those unlucky enough to get a placebo or low dosage of the pain med. One of the studies was a single-day, 12-hour thing; the other was an overnight stay in dorm-style beds. One or both of them required a short follow-up visit one week later for another blood draw.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad experience for me, but not necessarily something I would recommend for everyone. Occasional difficulty with blood draws and the occasional person in a great deal of pain were the only downsides I saw. I’m not scared of needles or nurses or such and not that sensitive to slight discomfort, so I didn’t have any problems. They tell you everything you need to know about the study up front for ethical reasons, so you know everything that is going to happen before participating in the study. All that said, my studies were relatively short, simple, and low-paying (about $300 total for both, I think it was); some of the other studies I’ve seen out there have longer stays, perhaps more discomfort, but of course higher levels of compensation, as well.
Hope that gives you some idea what it’s like (or can be like, YMMV).
I did a double vaccine test, known to be safe on their own but not tried together before. I got a couple of hundred. Four hours at the start then every week for a month. No worries. Mine was through a hospital, not a “centre”.
I was a lab rat a couple of times. Yeah, I went through the lockdowns, multiple blood draws, strict meal schedules and all that. One study was three consecutive weekends and the other was 14 days straight. In hindsight I probably wouldn’t recommend it because the medication is experimental and no telling if it could be harmful in the longrun. In one study the fingernails on my left hand all turned blue!
Freaky! For a good account of what its like read Robert Rodriguez’ book “Rebel without a Crew.” He raised the money for “El Mariachi” in the same lab I was at.
I’ve only done this once - but that was amazing!
I went in and they said that they wanted me for a test on the effects of alcohol on reaction times. They told me not to eat anything that morning and gave me a breakfast of toast.
They then subjected me to some test on reaction times and logical thinking. Once these were completed they told me to suck on 3 extra strong mints whilst ibibing a pitcher of orange juice which either had a placebo that tasted like vodka, or a lot of vodka in.
An hour or so later I had to do the same tests as before, but this time I was so incredibly drunk I could hardly see! I kept cracking up whenever they asked me to do things! It was hilarious!
They then put a cheque for £400 in my hand ($600) and sent me on my way (telling me not to drive of course).
Getting paid that much money for getting pissed was certainly the best job I’ve ever had!
When I was in college, my roomate, who was in the speech and hearing program needed volunteers for one of his professor’s studies. I, being poor and stupid, volunteered. It would pay $50 for about 4 hours.
It involved testing dizziness, focusing, inner ear temperatures, etc. Most was pretty boring, but one test involved putting a small baloon inside my ear, then inflating it with very hot water for several minutes. The temperature would cause you to become immediately dizzy and you would try to focus on a moving dot on the ceiling. The pain was so intense from this heat, I almost tore them out and quit. Pride and the need for $50 kept me there, however, nearly in tears from the pain.
My advice would be to be sure what you’re getting yourself into first.
I was a lab rat once, for a hosipal study regarding “The Effects of Marijuana on Mood and Behavior Changes.” They paid me $500 to come in and smoke dope 8 times and fill out some questionaires. They even gave me a ride home afterwards! Second easiest money I ever made.
[bite]Ok Emilio, what was the first?[/bite]
I helped in a medication study at Harborview Medical Center for $50 or so. They were testing the half-life of a particular medication and all I had to do was get injected with it, then breathe into a sequence of numbered bags. My breath would later be tested for concentrations of the drug. I think they also tested stuff like lung capacity and such for reference. Pretty easy, and it only took about an hour.
I was a “healthy volunteer” in several studies in the '70s There were 10 or 12 of us they called regularly. In the beginning we were “normal volunteers” but, when they discovered just how not normal some of us were…
I did several involving antihypertensives and antiarrhythmics. One was 2 days a week for 4 weeks. I had to do 10 minutes of step testing, stepping up and down an 18"step once per second. I had to do this, one day a week, once per hour for 6 hours. each week I was given a different medication, or not. Some made finishing the step test impossible. For that one I recieved $1000. In 1974(?) that was a PILE of money! It was probably a dangerous test as well. I was young, stupid and immortal.
I did another that required drinking a liter of cranberry juice in 30 minutes. I was then given a potent diuretic. I had IVs in both arms. In one the replaced my urine output (with IV solution, not urine, silly) and drew blood from the other every 15 minutes. In an 8 hour period they replaced 18 LITERS, that’s 4.5 gallons. I hate cranberry juice to this day!
When I worked at Harborview (fish :)) I was asked a few times, but being older, wiser and very aware of the potential complications, I declined.
::waves to picnurse::
I did my testing while I was working at Harborview also, as a temp secretary for the Respiratory Care floor on 8th. That hospital has the Slowest Elevators In The Known Universe. 
Ever hear of HibiClens? It’s pretty ubiquitous now in medical clinics. I was part of the testing for it.
The point I came in, they had tested it on folks with normal skin, now they wanted to see the effects on folks with skin problems - allergies, eczema, acne, dry skin, whatever…
Having very sensitive skin, and prone to eczema and allergies, they were happy enough to see me. I had to wash my face and hands with it on a regular schedule. My (at that time) very oily skin dried out in a hurry, but otherwise didn’t have an effect. Which is pretty amazing, since I break out in rashes with the least provocation. Can’t remember how much I was paid at the time, it was over 25 years ago… I was a minor, too, so my parents had to sign a consent form to allow me to participate. I had to be at least 12 years old, too - this might explain that common caution on things, “approved for children 12 and over”.
Haven’t had the urge to guinea pig again, although I’d consider it under the right circumstances.
Sayeth ** boofy_bloke**
I thought you’d never ask 
I once worked as the technical director for a museum auditorium. We rented to outside groups, and part of the standard contract was a clause specifying that I had to be present anytime the auditorium was in use, and that renters were responsible for my salary. We once rented the space to a theater company putting on a huge Shakespearean production. They had all of their own technical people, so I had nothing to do but sit around all day. Since tech and rehersals sometimes lasted up to 16 hours a day, I often got paid time and a half while sleeping on the sofa in my office!
Emilio, those cheap ads that say “Get paid to smoke Marijuana” arn’t scams?
I can’t speak for all of them, clayton, but the ad I found was in the classified section of the University of Chicago’s student newspaper in the late '80s. It seemed legimtimate enough, but the experimental protocol was so silly that I thought at first the doctor running the study was just trying to get his hands on some government dope to sell!
Hershey Medical Center (yep, same town as the Hershey Chocolate bar) does medical testing, and both myself and my two daughters have participated in studies for money.
My daughters both had fairly bad acne a few years ago and both participated in a study where they were given face/acne cream (or a placebo cream), and we’d go in every week or so for them to check the breakouts on my daughter’s skin. The only problem with that was (1) we had no idea WHAT the cream was, which meant (2) when the cream cleared up their skin and the study was finished, no more cream. --The cream, btw, was on the final stages of FDA approval, from what I recall. I think they each received around $300 for a three month study.
With my study, I can’t remember what the purpose of the study was, but it basically consisted of me taking the birth control pills (which they provided) and coming back every month for six months for a vaginal ultrasound–which was no big deal. I also had to keep records of my periods (I got a placebo during week four of the bcp–or it may have been the “test pill”), and at the first part and the end of the study, they did an endometrial biopsy (sample of the lining of the uterus), which although was quick, it was like the worst menstral cramps I’ve ever had. They were great in explaining all the risks, and what I needed to do, and made it very clear that I could stop the study participation at ANY time I wanted (I didn’t). Pay was around $600 (plus six months of free birth control pills).
I did come across one which they wanted to test muscle reaction, and wanted to put some type of sensor under the skin of the thigh or something along those lines. Ick. It made my stomach turn just hearing about it, so I passed on that one. However, depending on the study and what it entailed, I’d do another one again.
I recently participated in a study for an acne medication. They were testing for skin sensitivity, and placed three small, one-inch patches on my back–one with only the carrier gel, one with the carrier gel and actual medication, and the third with the gel and another ingredient. I had to be careful to keep the patches on, which meant I had to tape a big plastic patch over them when I showered, and coudn’t go swimming, etc. I had to go in for about five or ten minutes for them to check the skin and change the patches three times a week, so all in all it cost me maybe three hours of my time, total. For this I made a couple hundred bucks.
Wow, you folks have done some really cool experiments!
I took part in a psychology experiment once. After only a few weeks in the room, I made an interesting discovery: If I pushed the red button nothing happened, but if I pushed the green button I got a banana!
OK, I’m kidding. The (extremely boring) experiment I took part in, back in 1989, involved a bunch of us watching two hourlong videos of a guy standing up and lecturing to a class about something or other. Afterward we were to evaluate which teaching method was more effective. I seem to recall that after it was over they told us it had been some kind of trick, and that what they’d told us they were testing for wasn’t what they were actually testing for, but I’m darned if I can remember the details. I do recall that the teaching method I preferred was the one that they had very carefully composed to be the worst possible method, so that no one could possibly prefer it.
And we didn’t get paid; we got extra credit in our Psych 101 class.
Freshman year, I participated in an easy study… Just answer some questions, like a test, on a computer, and then collect $15. Since then, I’ve had a health survey taken, but that was for free. They did mentioned about starting a clinical trial soon, and asked me if I wanted to be part of it. Told them yes, please call me.
I find some ads about clinical trials through UF at the student newspaper, but most of them require for females to be either on birth control, sterile, or menopausal in order to participate. With the latter two categories, I understand the reasoning behind it. With the first one… if they’re just requiring birth control I’m assuming they don’t want the women to get pregnant during the experiment or immediately after, wouldn’t they accept someone who’s not on birth control because she’s not doing anything that may require its use?