How to be treated in the US and get paid for it

It's no secret how much private medical insurance costs, what you need to get Medicaid and what mental jungle has to be overcome in order to understand where and what the insurance covers, and where it is necessary to pay.

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And while we are healthy, we are not interested in this, but when we are sick, there is no time to go into details.

One of the ways - I want to emphasize that this is only “one of” the ways to use the existing system to your advantage and is by no means a panacea for everything that can and cannot be cured - research that involves volunteer patients.

They do not check your status or insurance card. They don't ask you for money. Moreover, they pay here - you.

Although, of course, in society, the subtext “use us” is popular, not without it.

It's about testing medicines on humans. A lot of associative material immediately comes to mind. The myths that those striving for world domination are eager to change a person at the genetic level, so that later they can easily and simply conquer him. A lot of films about how clinical research is harmful and how they make sick people from healthy people. All this is a pandemic and trials of vaccines against COVID-19 only warmed up.

No, there will be no advertising for research and there will not be a single positive or negative epithet addressed to them. There will be bare information about how such studies really go, what they give to science, and that to their immediate participants.

FAQ

What it is?

Pharmaceutical research has been conducted all over the world for more than half a century and has undergone a lot of technical, ethical and legal adjustments during this time in favor of the patient, but what has remained unchanged is that, during these studies, drugs are actually tested on humans.

If they had not been tested in public, humanity would have received far more unpleasant surprises than it had already received. The people who are tested for the clinical picture or the effect of the drug can be roughly called “guinea pigs”, or you can be volunteers who help science and extract financial compensation from their activities.

Who is doing this?

A great variety of both public and private clinics. The lion's share of such research is carried out in hospitals. The larger the organization, the more research it can conduct and the higher the level of diversity of such research. And the cooler the equipment.

Who needs it?

Pharmaceutical companies interested in developing new drugs. Consumers of pharmaceutical companies' products, because demand creates supply. Wait, that's not the whole list. This is also necessary for patients who have been prescribed the “wrong thing” for many years, who have tried all possible medications and realized that nothing helps their ailment (migraine is especially famous for the lack of a way out), who have nothing to lose and should take part in testing the drug for them - the last hope of getting at least something that works.

You - for me, I - for you

This principle in research works to its fullest. You provide your blood, urine, saliva for tests, answer questions about your state of health a very large number of times, your body may (and it’s not a fact that it really happens) have to suffer the side effects of a new medicine. This is what you give. What they give you: the possible cure of your illness, medical support in the event of a side effect, and ... material compensation.

Why is it paid?

Because you're wasting your time on it in the first place. And a resource. Your ability to be a human unit expressing an opinion that drug developers, among others, will be guided by is a resource. This is a common practice, it is done everywhere.

Sometimes, in order to take part in a study, a person is forced to skip the work day, and sometimes he, according to the terms of the study itself, requires an accompanying person or taxi. All this clinic compensates, and the patient signs the “received money”.

Who pays it?

Those who sponsor certain studies. In different clinics they are different people. The cost of participation in the study of each patient is initially budgeted.

How is it paid?

Also in different ways. Participation in a depression research program is, for example, $ 50 per session. A session lasts an hour and you do not use anything. In fact, a number of other studies are accompanied by taking the drug. In tablets or intravenously.

Who will know that you participated in these studies?

No one. Under the terms of a completely formal contract that you sign, this action is absolutely anonymous. Even in a telephone survey, you will be called your personal code, because the respondents do not know and should not know your name.

Risks

Changing the health for the worse and side effects of the drug.

Nobody hides this from anyone; a person is always warned about what could theoretically happen to him and is asked in detail about the sensations during the procedure.

It is for the identification of side effects (among other things) that research is being carried out.

Are there any such cases?

There are. The medical staff is first interested to bring you around if this happens. The clinic is responsible for everything that happens inside it. If you do not take drugs under the terms of research, then the side effects are not talking.

“What if I am put on drugs?”

The FDA controls the entire synthesis process of all approved drugs. Without its green light, research will not begin and the drug will not be available at pharmacies.

That is, I can come here just like that, and they will just take me to participate in the study?

No. You will be accepted to participate in a study of a certain disease only if you already have it - and in order to find out, you will be preliminarily examined (interviewed, examined). Sometimes your doctor recommends taking part in the study.

How does this happen? The patient complains that nothing helps him, the doctor offers another option - to determine whether the latest developments help him experimentally. Participation in the study is, of course, only voluntary.

Who is involved in such research?

Most volunteers are people over 50 years old. However, for migraine research, for example, people over 18 years of age are allowed - this disease is characteristic of all ages, unfortunately.

Different studies require different people, and there are pediatric studies in hospitals. Children's oncology, autism, hearing impairment - all this is being researched, including through the participation of volunteers. Parents give consent if the child is a minor.

How it is done

If you think you need or would like to take part in such research, then there is a centralized government broker, where a search is made both by disease and by your place of residence. There you will be shown the nearest clinic dealing with your problem.

You can also go to the website of any individual clinic and ask everything that interests you.

On any front desk, you can say that you are interested. clinical Trials — and they will tell you whether such research is being conducted and in what area. You may not have health insurance (any), you may have the status of a tourist - however, provided that you are participating in research, this will not be a problem.

What happens next

The decision on whether the drug will not be released to the market is made by the FDA. All information about the study sponsors send to Food and Drugs Administration before the research even begins. Sponsors give a detailed report on what they expect from the drug, what they expect during the study, what their formulation requirements are, etc. The FDA may or may not approve these studies. And only after this the pharmaceutical company looks for a clinic to implement the research. After the study is completed, all data is also sent to the FDA for processing. This is a huge amount of information, a complete database of all possible side effects, data and well-being, and only if they are all within normal limits does the administration decide to release the drug to the market.

Side effects

Svetlana Netrebchuk, coordinator of one of the clinics conducting the research, says that side effects are quite common, and this is not surprising: “Firstly, this is discussed at the first visit, at screening, we provide the patient with complete information in his language (usually it is in English, but if a person does not read English, we always provide it in his native language), we always talk about the side effects of this drug. This is discussed immediately, and the person must agree. The starting information for the patient describes everything - both what we are going to do at each visit and the side effects of this medicine. If a person does not give his consent on the first visit, we stop working with him. We don’t deceive anyone and we don’t hide anything from anyone. Our duty is to talk about the negative aspects first.

If a person begins to feel nausea, vomiting, headache, fever, or individual intolerance to some component, the patient must either call us and tell us as quickly as possible about what happened, or we ourselves see that something is wrong.

In addition, not every person is suitable for research - we are within the strict criteria of the patient’s age, gender, and previous diseases.

Allergies are included in this list. And if a person does not meet these criteria or there is the slightest risk of harming him, we will not even take him. We will never knowingly put a person in danger. We will most likely refuse him on his first visit. But usually, as side effects, we still have a headache or some parallel ailments not related to taking the drug - a cold, for example, caught accidentally, or an accident... If this is still definitely a side effect of the drug, we discuss the advisability of the patient’s further participation in the study and we refer him to a more specialized specialist who can analyze the situation.”

Personal experience

George, asked not to mention his last name, 50 years, passed a very long list of studies in 2003-2007 years: «I participated in such studies in Canada and England, in 2003-2007, but did not take part in the USA. They planned to test a drug for the treatment of asthma on me, along with other people. I donated blood, urine, my height and weight were checked, I filled out a questionnaire. According to the study, the person testing the drug must be between 18 and 45 years old and not overweight. Cardiogram and blood pressure. I was there several times for several hours, the longest time I spent there was 8 hours in one visit - it was a preliminary exam, screening. As a result, I ended up in the reserve - that is, my data was taken in case someone leaves the race in this study, then I will be a spare.

At the moment I am alive and well, but I would like to say about other research participants. I had a feeling that people come there for material compensation and it is important for them not so much to help science as to earn. There are real volunteers, but their percentage is low.

Most of the emigrants participated. Students People sitting on the velfer. Ethnic minorities. Parents of large families of poor families. Native people practically did not come across.

From $ 700 to $ 1000, patients earned such studies in Canada. If you take a few studies, you could save money for starting your own business or for a car - and very often my patient colleagues did just that.

More than 4 thousand pounds such research was then worth in England.

As a result of the Postoperative Healing Study - the effect of some healing drug was tested on me - I lost the sensitivity of the oral mucosa and outer skin for some time.

Once for a few seconds lost consciousness. But I was immediately brought a stroller, cared for me. In study I donated a total of 700 with over a milligram of blood.

There, people are divided into those who take a placebo and those who receive the real drug. Who gets what is a medical confidentiality.

And those who take a placebo, definitely do not get any harm to health. And the one who takes the real drug may feel something.

The legislation is very different in these countries: in Canada, about a month (28 days) must pass between the study of the same person, but in England - at least 56 days.

There are some characters who contrive and participate immediately in 2 research: at that time there was no shared computer in the clinics. But that was a long time ago; I think the situation has changed since then. With this, the patient makes worse both himself and the study.

How do I personally feel about this type of research? If it's voluntary, why not? Everyone is responsible for their decisions. We can, for example, donate organs after death in an accident. Why not? I've been involved in a lot of these studies, and now you're talking to me, right? Research conditions, by the way, have always been good. It was almost like it was in a sanatorium there.”

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