PHILOSOPHY - BIOETHICS 4: Is It Ethical to Pay Subjects for Their Participation in Research Studies?

In this Wireless Philosophy video, we’ll consider how scientific progress in medicine depends on subject participation in research studies and ask whether subjects should be monetarily compensated for these essential and risky contributions.

[julieharrison]

Im in the UK, and people here regularly get paid for drug studies. Once it gets to the human testing phase, it has undergone so much study already. My daughters' dad did 1 study where he was in the clinic for 14 days and was paid £1400. It's usually around £100 to £150 a day, which is a nice insentive, but also, you have a thorough medical testing. It was from this that he actually found out he had COPD. But he'd been doing trials since he was 20 (he's now 64) and you'll find many Australians come here just to do trials to add funds for their travels. And the clinics dont take just anyone. The majority are turned down. You have to be extremely healthy and a non-smoker.

[jamesquirke]

It's certainly more ethical to pay them to participate than not to pay them as long as no coercion took place and the participant had the right to withdraw from the study at any time.