Medicine's Not-So-Silent Killer: Human Guinea Pigs

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There are 40,000 clinical trials going on in the United States right now, and 20 million Americans are recruited into clinical trails annually by universities, medical centers and drug companies. Some have cancer or other illnesses that are threatening their lives, but did you know there is a hot competition for clinical trial recruits who aren’t even sick? It’s an easy but risky way to make money.

Food, games, movies … it looks like a party!

"It really is kinda like camp," clinical trial participant Hannah Owen told Ivanhoe. "You just curl up on a coach with a blanket and play games the rest of the day."

"Of the 20 people in here, I probably personally know 18 of them," participant Casey Cornett said.

"It feels like I'm hanging out with a bunch of friends, and they're paying me just because I have a tube in my nose," Walter Burpo, another participant, said.

This group makes up a growing number of normal, healthy research volunteers who offer up their bodies, brains and blood to science -- for a fee.

"Last year I probably made around $4,900," Owen said.

"The studies have ranged so far from $1,500 to $8,300," Cornett said.

"It almost seems like free money," Burpo said.

The National Institutes of Health alone enrolls 5,000 normal healthy research volunteers, or NHRVs, each year for phase I trials to determine drug safety and absorption.

"It's strange to think that the pills I'm taking are the pills that other people are going to be taking in the future," Cornett said.

Fifty to 93 percent of volunteers say money was a significant motivator. A recent study shows a third have college degrees, half were employed full-time, and nearly one in three had been in more than 10 studies.

How much can a clinical trial guinea pig make? Diarrhea drugs can pay $1,000 for a weekend trial, asthma up to $3,000. Sunscreens are tested at $65 per square inch. Some studies pay upwards of $10,000 dollars, but is money the only motivator? Research shows NHRVs are a mix of altruistic and curious and are easily excited. Some have a self or family interest.

"Some of the people are participating in a lot of studies," Carl Tishler, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, told Ivanhoe.

Dr. Tishler found personality characteristics of veteran NHRVs differ from those of non-volunteers.

"We have people who are not normal or healthy psychologically," he said. "They're a little bit more paranoid. There's a higher incidence of substance abuse."

Dr. Tishler studied 28 men in phase I trials. Fifty percent had personality problems, which Dr. Tishler says can influence results.

"Nore neurotic, anxious people respond to Valium differently than people who are not anxious," he said.

Guinea pigs tend to be risk takers … and there are risks to signing up. Six British men experienced it first-hand during a phase I trial to determine whether a drug to treat leukemia was safe in humans. They were paid $3,500 dollars and underwent several injections. All six ended up in intensive care with severe pain and organ failure.  But not all guinea pigs have such severe reactions.

"The tube going down the nose isn't the most comfortable thing, but once it's in, you really don't feel it a whole lot," Cornett said.

Tempted to volunteer? Make sure to protect yourself. Check out websites like AHRP that are devoted to research volunteer protection. Make sure the study is approved by an institutional review board. Google the investigator. Look for controversy. Have someone else read the consent forms. Consider best and worst case scenarios and be alert to subtle forms of coercion. Financial stress can override good judgment, so examine your motivations.

"I believe it's perfect," Burpo said. "It helps me, but it also helps other people who have the actual problems."

Whether it's worth the risk is for you to decide.

Paying volunteers to play with their health is nothing new. The U.S. army paid 19th century volunteers $100 in gold to contract yellow fever. The law puts no limit on how much privately funded researchers can pay study participants. If you're interested in joining a clinical trial, you can comparison shop at www.clinicalconnection.com and get free e-mail updates on trials in your area. 

More Information

If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Alliance for Human Research Protection
http://www.ahrp.org