Donating Your Body for Scientific Research

Need some easy money? How about $500 for six afternoons of sleeping in your bedroom, listening to music, and eating junk food? And don't forget about filling out those questionaires every hour which assess the "mood-altering effects" of the three pills you swallowed at 2 p.m.

McLean Hospital is one Boston area teaching hospital which regularly advertises at Harvard and other local college campuses for students willing to participate in research tests. The experiments on human subjects involve various "recreationally-used" drugs and are conducted by Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack and Dr. Jonathan O. Cole.

Lest you leap for the phone, there is one caveat. Not just anyone can be accepted into the program. All applicants must undergo a rigorous series of screenings, including a psychological test, a physical exam, and several interviews. The researchers say they are looking for potential subjects who are "competent in handling drugs," says Orzack. "We're not condoning drug use, just requiring people with experience."

"You have to have some familiarity with drugs, or else you'd probably freak out," explains one Harvard participant.

Two self-proclaimed "money-hungry" freshmen say they failed to make it past the first telephone interview. One admits that she had never taken any drugs other than alcohol and marijuana, and was rejected outright. The other claims to have experimented with several hard drugs, and was told, "I'm sorry, but we're looking for people with considerable experience in one area."

Recreational Limits

Groups of four or more students come to the Harvard-affiliated hospital once a week for eight hours to test different types of drugs. The three pills each take range in strength from a placebo--which is a simple sugar pill--to a maximum dosage, which, says Orzack, is "still within the limits each subject has taken recreationally."

"The most interesting thing about the study is that it is double-blind," another participant recalls. "One doctor knows what drug we've been given, but we don't know, and neither do the people monitoring us--so they don't know what to expect and can't influence our behavior."

Students quaff these unknowns together, in recreated dorm rooms, in order for environments to resemble as much as possible those which the students experience when taking drugs on their own. "We play chess or even basketball, take walks, do homework. They give us dinner, chips with dip, order-out Italian food...They treat us much better than Harvard--and we're getting paid [to do this]," says one subject.

The object of the study is to statistically analyze mood changes resulting from anti-anxiety narcotics, stimulants, tranquilizers, quaaludes, and amphetamines, and "to establish whether some drugs not yet on the market have the potential for abuse," Orzack explains. The medical researcher recently tested buspar--a drug not yet available in pharmacies--on several subjects. "They didn't like it, so it has more of a chance of being taken strictly for medical purposes rather than for enjoyment."

The doctors also say their research tries to determine if drugs like valium are medically effective, or if patients just take them because they believe they work, one participant adds. "They tell us that 30 percent of hospitalized patients, when given a placebo instead of a sedative, will not notice the difference. It's all in the mind."

"I don't feel there will be any long-term effects, especially since three out of the four drugs they're giving our group were once legal," he continues. "But I was ticked off when one person asked Orzack what the long-term effects could be, and she said `Why does it matter to you--you've taken them all before anyway."'

Risking Side Effects

But sometimes the narcotics experimenting can result in some peculiar side effects for some participants. "The tests so far seem to be conducted in a mature, business-like fashion by responsible, competent people, not witch doctors," says another paid subject. "When I lost my memory and couldn't remember what I ate for dinner, they were more interested than anything else. But they had warned us before about possible side effects. Still, I was more out of control than I have ever been."

Other side effects associated with some of the research include drowsiness, lethargy, and dizziness, says Orzack. Every subject must be deemed fit by a psychiatrist to go home, and "we always send them home in a cab," she says. "[Using depressants] is like being really drunk, but without the sickness or the alcohol. It's like you're in a bubble," says one participant.

That same research subject vomited six times during one session, and had a severe headache the next day. "But he eats like a pig, and had a huge lunch before the tests and greasy fried chicken while he was knocked out," says a fellow participant.

"You have to be aware that drugs are drugs, and not things to be taken lightly. If they were meant to be in your system, they would be. You can absolutely get hurt if you don't adhere to the rules," he continues.

Harvard also keeps its institutional eye on research involving undergraduate subjects. The university requires that "most but not all research involving human subjects" obtain advance review and approval by the 11-year Committee on the Use of Human Subjects. The committee, composed of faculty members and chaired by Senior Lecturer on Psychology Edward L. Pattullo, is the Faculty of Arts and Science's institutional review board for such research and meets nine times per year.

Money for Nothing

Most students offer a number of reasons why they sacrifice their bodies and time to become human guinea pigs for the sake of scientific research.

Money, for one participant, was the only attraction. "I was very broke. I look at [the study] as a job with incredible benefits. But you should get into the program, get your money, and get out. It's not a game or a joke; it's a business and a risk where the odds don't always stay the same."

Another student was less reflective. "Not being menial labor, I heard the drug study was a good way to make money."

The researchers are quick to point out that the subjects are paid and that they come in on their own volition. "We're not coercing them; the individual makes the decision to come in," says Orzack. "And we're obtaining information by giving them drugs they have taken already in a controlled situation where they won't get into trouble."

The vast majority of study subjects are upper-middle class local college students, she says, describing them as being generally quite honest, a little deviant, and risk-taking. "They are taking drugs and making it."

"[The students] are able to admit they are doing something illegal; they are responsible and sufficiently savvy not to take stupid chances." Most can take a drug or leave it as the case may be, and they "fit into their world, usually indulging on weekends," she continues.

No Addicts Allowed

Orzack stresses that the research group does not accept drug addicts. "We want people who are healthy mentally and physically," she says. "Besides, they have to be able to abstain from most drugs up to 72 hours before the tests."

Some student participants recall instances of strict enforcement of these rules. "One girl did get penalized an afternoon's pay because she had used cocaine before the test," said one participant. "I was surprised she didn't get kicked out of the program."

What sort of individuals would subject themselves to this sort of testing? One freshman participant describes himself as being a partier, a spendthrift, and very flamboyant. "I need the money for other forms of partying. My parents know [about the test], and they realize that I am 18, and this is my own decision."

"I'm very self-assured, honest about my abilities, and somewhat adventurous," says another Yardling. "If my parents knew about [the McLean research], they would die." He says he would not do the program again, although participants are allowed to go through three sets of tests before having to withdraw.

Harvard rules regarding research with human subjects specify that any student must be free to make the decision to withdraw from active participation in a program at any time.

"After all, you're dealing with drugs doctors don't know everything about-why else would there be a study? This program places restraints on your behavior and takes its toll on your mind."