Chicago Magazine recently published a piece about the AbbVie Clinical Pharmacology Research Unit, a Illinois phase 1 clinical trial managed by a pharmaceutical company. Some of the issues mentioned make us wonder if they’re shared with our local study subject population. Some key take-aways:
- “AbbVie touts altruism as a motive for volunteering. If chosen, “you will be participating in important health research and helping to advance scientific knowledge,” states its website. But the vast majority of test subjects get involved with phase 1 trials for another reason: They consider them easy money. Many are cash-strapped students. Some are between jobs. Others just need a little extra dough for a vacation or home improvement project.”
- Some people make a living at being a clinical trial subject.
- Some people have learned strategies to make them more likely to be accepted into or complete a clinical trial, such as, um, seeking out certain flexibilities in the inclusion criteria, or minimizing side effects they note so they won’t be removed early.
The article is a very engaging read — we encourage you to work through the whole thing. Do any of the issues raised crop up in your own research experience?