College students as human guinea pigs
Danielle Hartley, Rose Hill junior, says she's willing to be injected with trial drugs in order to pay her rent on time.
Teresa Wilson, Lawrence junior, hopes to use her healthy body as a medical experiment so she can pay off her debt.
Last year, Katelyn Andrews, Olathe junior, took shots in her abdomen and spent three days at the hospital taking sonograms of her heart, just to be paid $2,300.
"The main reason that I participated," she said, "was to get some extra money. My mom works at a few hospitals and said that it was a safe thing to do."
No one can be sure exactly how many college students at KU, or any university, are now participating in paid medical studies in order to pay their bills. Given the current state of our economy, students such as these know they are not alone. More and more students are challenged financially and are finding the solution to their problems through these paid experiments.
Students are finding creative solutions to their finance
problems. One of these solutions is paid medical research trials.
Paid clinical trials attract college students because they offer a
large sum of money for a minimum amount of actual work. In fact, when
asked about their willingness to participate in a medical trial for
money, 7 out of 10 students said they would especially participate now
more than ever.
Teresa Wilson's financial status forced her to look for this alternate solution of income since her one job wasn't helping enough. "Between credit card debt and lawyer fees I really could use some extra money," she said. Teresa heard about Quintiles, a local clinical trial facility in Olathe, Kan., on a radio advertisement last year and decided to apply. Danielle Hartley heard the same ad as Teresa, knowing it was the answer to her financial problems, too. "I really hope to get in the trial that pays the most money. At this point I just don't care about the risks," she said.
Katelyn Andrews knew about the risks but found the benefits worth it. She profited a total of $3,000 between the two trials she participated in. The first trial was research on a stroke medicine, which she had no side effects from. "With the second study at one point when they had me do a 5 minute standing test, my heart started to race and I felt extremely light-headed," she said. "But other than that there were zero side effects."
This pie chart shows a census of opinions on the
reasons why people participate in clinical research
trials. The general consensus is that the majority
participate to make money. Source: CISCRP
Besides minor side-effects like Katelyn's, the overall consensus may be
that clinical studies are in fact safe, but the companies conducting
these clinical trials make sure to publicize the risks and possible
side effects to their patients. Some of the general risks listed are
unpleasant, serious or life-threatening side effects to treatment.
Patients typically do not find out about the risks or side effects until they fill out an application and are approved to participate by the clinic. Upon Danielle Hartley's approval to participate she received a letter of notice from Quintiles. "It was a full front and back piece of paper describing all the possible risks and side effects I might have. The only one that really stood out to me was possible death," she said.
The risk of death is apparently not scary enough to make Danielle and most college kids running, though. According to Viki Zelenak, Wichita senior and president of the KU International Medical Ethics Club, this fearlessness could potentially be caused by pre-mature development. "At this age (college students), health habits and behaviors are still being formed. The area of the pre-frontal cortex is not quite fully developed yet, so we're still deciding what's good and bad for us," Viki said. She also stated that the effects of clinical trials are not always immediate, so it may still be possible that these effects will show up in the later years.
This graph shows the opinions of 1,000 people on
how safe they think clinical research trials are
between 2004 and 2008. Source: CISCRP/ODC
surveys.
Dr. Matt Reynolds, a KU ethics and psychology professor, agrees with
Viki and thinks it's important for students to be fully informed about
what they're getting into.
For Katelyn Andrews, this premature development may have influenced her choice in participating, but the overall decision seemed to benefit her rather than harm. Danielle and Teresa have acknowledged the possible risks of the medical trials as well, but think their monetary offerings outweigh the cons in their current tight financial situations.
"The trials are double-blind studies," Teresa said. "I just hope I get the placebo."
Danielle Hartley, Rose Hill junior, says she's willing to be injected with trial drugs in order to pay her rent on time.
Teresa Wilson, Lawrence junior, hopes to use her healthy body as a medical experiment so she can pay off her debt.
Last year, Katelyn Andrews, Olathe junior, took shots in her abdomen and spent three days at the hospital taking sonograms of her heart, just to be paid $2,300.
"The main reason that I participated," she said, "was to get some extra money. My mom works at a few hospitals and said that it was a safe thing to do."
No one can be sure exactly how many college students at KU, or any university, are now participating in paid medical studies in order to pay their bills. Given the current state of our economy, students such as these know they are not alone. More and more students are challenged financially and are finding the solution to their problems through these paid experiments.
Students are finding creative solutions to their finance
problems. One of these solutions is paid medical research trials.
Teresa Wilson's financial status forced her to look for this alternate solution of income since her one job wasn't helping enough. "Between credit card debt and lawyer fees I really could use some extra money," she said. Teresa heard about Quintiles, a local clinical trial facility in Olathe, Kan., on a radio advertisement last year and decided to apply. Danielle Hartley heard the same ad as Teresa, knowing it was the answer to her financial problems, too. "I really hope to get in the trial that pays the most money. At this point I just don't care about the risks," she said.
Katelyn Andrews knew about the risks but found the benefits worth it. She profited a total of $3,000 between the two trials she participated in. The first trial was research on a stroke medicine, which she had no side effects from. "With the second study at one point when they had me do a 5 minute standing test, my heart started to race and I felt extremely light-headed," she said. "But other than that there were zero side effects."
This pie chart shows a census of opinions on the
reasons why people participate in clinical research
trials. The general consensus is that the majority
participate to make money. Source: CISCRP
Patients typically do not find out about the risks or side effects until they fill out an application and are approved to participate by the clinic. Upon Danielle Hartley's approval to participate she received a letter of notice from Quintiles. "It was a full front and back piece of paper describing all the possible risks and side effects I might have. The only one that really stood out to me was possible death," she said.
The risk of death is apparently not scary enough to make Danielle and most college kids running, though. According to Viki Zelenak, Wichita senior and president of the KU International Medical Ethics Club, this fearlessness could potentially be caused by pre-mature development. "At this age (college students), health habits and behaviors are still being formed. The area of the pre-frontal cortex is not quite fully developed yet, so we're still deciding what's good and bad for us," Viki said. She also stated that the effects of clinical trials are not always immediate, so it may still be possible that these effects will show up in the later years.
This graph shows the opinions of 1,000 people on
how safe they think clinical research trials are
between 2004 and 2008. Source: CISCRP/ODC
surveys.
For Katelyn Andrews, this premature development may have influenced her choice in participating, but the overall decision seemed to benefit her rather than harm. Danielle and Teresa have acknowledged the possible risks of the medical trials as well, but think their monetary offerings outweigh the cons in their current tight financial situations.
"The trials are double-blind studies," Teresa said. "I just hope I get the placebo."
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