CAN'T PAY ME ENOUGH! 5 TYPES OF STUDIES TO AVOID

There is great money to be made participating in clinical trials, but not every study is a good study and the Study Pros such as myself know and understand this. There are many studies that I will NOT do. Although money is the motivator, money is not and should not be your deciding factor in determining what study you will participate in. I will admit, I did a few that I would not choose to do again. Live and learn.

Below are the 5 types of studies I avoid:

1: RAPIDS

What are rapids, you ask? Rapids are pure hell for someone with small rolling veins. Rapids are pure hell for darn near anyone. Rapids refers to a high number of blood draws in a short period of time. During informed consent, you will learn the main requirements for participation in the study that you are screening for. The term rapids will likely not be used, but you can identify a study with RAPID blood draws by paying close attention to the study protocol. Many studies have multiple dosing periods. The informed consent will often provide a breakdown of the blood draws for a dosing period. If you see a blood draw every 2-5 minutes early after dosing that increments to an interval of 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, then 30 minutes. That would be defined as RAPIDS! Translation - the blood draws are coming hard and fast with little time for recovery in between. No thank you! My arms can't handle it.

2: 100 PLUS BLOOD DRAWS AND/OR MANY MULTI-TUBE DRAWS.

You will need to dig around this site to learn more about these conditions, but it will be spelled out in the informed consent. If I see large tubes (10 MIL), and many tubes per blood draw - I'm out! I decline consent and leave the screening. There are studies that require far too much blood for me. Know that blood will be taken on interval with pretty much all clinical trials studies. The blood is where a lot of the data lies. Fortunately, there are those grey herrings of studies that have very few blood draws and you should be so lucky as to qualify into one of those. But back to this nightmare. These studies will have 4-9 tubes per stick. OUCH! No thank you - I pass!

3: OUTPATIENT STUDIES OR WEEKEND STUDIES

This is a lifestyle choice. I do not like them. For some people, outpatient and weekend studies are a dream because they fit their schedule. This would mainly be students or full-time workers. These studies allow them to have a second stream of income without disrupting their current full-time life. It is "supplemental". Study Pros who do studies full-time would choose to avoid these types of studies for the following reasons:

- These are usually lower paying studies. The average washout period between studies is 30 days. These studies can stretch over periods of time that would make doing them extremely low pay compared to doing an in-house study.

- The constant travel back and forth to the facility would eat into your stipend/pay. Yes, the pros run cost analysis and have formulas that we use to determine if a study is "worth it".

- The physical act of the travel is exhausting. These studies are best for people that live close to the facilities (locals). If you live any significant distance, then the back-and-forth is taxing on the body. For example, I live in Houston but do many trials in Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas. To be there on time for early morning appointments (most are), I'd have to be up getting ready and leaving at 2 am. Additionally, it's a whole day lost on an appointment that may only actually be a few hours. Thus, time is a factor.

- Some of these are stretched out over long periods of time. My very first study, I got it wrong! I did a study with 3 check-ins stretched over a 3-month period of time for about $3000. In that same period of time, I learned that I could have done 2 long stays and made close to $16000 for that same time period because after I finished it, I still had my 30-day washout period.

4: LONG HAUL STUDIES

This is another lifestyle choice. In the early days, I could do these without blinking. A long haul is a straight 30+ days locked up/confined in a study facility. In most cases, not going outside at all during that time. These are nice because they are usually big money hitters $8000 or higher in pay. It's just that after you do so many, they tend to wear you down. But if you are new to the study world and don't have any commitments that would force you out early, then by all means - give it a shot! There is a sweet spot of 20 days or 2 check-ins that became more palatable to me after doing this for so long.

NOTE: Some facilities give you scheduled BRIEF monitored outdoor time/walks for about 15-20 minutes twice a week if the protocol will allow it (PPD). Celerion Nebraska has a center courtyard that you have access to at will which is very nice.

5: COCTAILS & BAD CONSENTS

No we're not talking about happy hour, I'm talking about the combination of 4,5,6 or more drugs required to test drug interactions. A lot of times "cocktails" are done with advance cancer and other sever circumstance studies. I have done them, but they shortly got on my do not do list. I'd say you have a greater chance of experiencing a side-effect and for me it just wasn't worth it.

The other condition I avoid are studies with side effects in their consent form that I am uncomfortable with. I have walked out on many screenings. I once sat through a screening where they tried to gloss over "may cause DEATH!" I quickly looked up to read the room to see if anyone else reacted to that particular "side effect". It wasn't just me!

CONCLUSION:

You will learn that there are many factors to consider when deciding what studies are a good fit for you. You will be able to quickly glance available studies and rule some out right away. You will also determine what makes your - not enough money in the world for me to do that one list. Pay attention, listen to the people around you and listen to your body.