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My experience doing drug trials at PMRI
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pmri.md

Originally written January 2015: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/tiy1pg/serious_what_is_the_easiest_legal_way_to_make/i1jg018/

Answers to questions can be seen here

I've done medical testing several times at Pharma Medica Research Inc in Scarborough. I can answer any questions you have about the process. I'll mention a few things I figure you're curious about. That said, all of this info is specifically about PMRI, I haven't done studies with any other companies.

  • I would do it again. If I could, anyway. It was a few years ago, and I've since lost a lot of weight, so my BMI isn't high enough (I'm below 19, which is about the cutoff point for most trials.)

  • You need to be pretty healthy. I don't have allergies, or any significant recent surgeries. I did have a blow to the head when I was like 2, and that did rule me out of some studies for safety reasons. If you're a smoker or any more than a social drinker, you'll likely only be eligible for a very select few studies.

  • There be needles. The entire process is basically "We put this pill in you, then check your blood like 20+ times in a day. You can opt to have a catheter in your arm if you're cool with it. I've tried that, and the "Needle every time option", and let me tell you: 20 needles in a day ain't pleasant.

  • Pays pretty well. Takes a little while for the whole process, since it's usually "Do this test, go home for a week or two, come back and do it again, then we'll pay you".

  • They're not testing the effect of the drug, just the levels of it. So, while I once did a test for a generic brand of Viagra, they weren't interested in what was going on downstairs, just what was going on in my blood.

I can't honestly remember what the process of first getting into it is like, this was like 5 years ago, but I believe I called them, let them know I was interested, and they had me answer a bunch of questions over the phone. After deciding I was eligible (But ruling out one of my friends for being on a prescription and another for being a vegetarian) they mentioned some tests I'd be eligible for, asked what I wanted to do, and then comes the process that repeats for each test:

  1. Schedule over the phone to go to a screening (Be honest about your weight and stuff, since they're going to check that there anyway).

  2. Show up, let the person sitting by the door know the screening you're showing up for. Have your healthcard handy, and possibly other photo ID (I don't recall if this part is necessary).

  3. They'll take your temperature through the ear and ask some questions about whether you've had any signs of illness recently.

  4. When they let you in, you'll speak to someone who gives you a piece of paper showing all the info about the drug you'd be testing. It'll list off the name of the drug, what it does, and all of the reported side effects with their frequency of reporting. If there are any side effects that are notably severe, they'll be noted. (One test mentioned a rare but possible case of Rhabdomyolysis, which left untreated can be fatal. This test went by without any issues for me).

  5. You'll eventually be called to speak with someone, and they'll go over the paper that I just mentioned, make sure you vocally confirm that you're aware of everything that will go on, and then they'll give you another slew of questions like the first one you did over the phone. When did you last smoke? When did you last drink? Any STDs? It's a bit of a lengthy one.

  6. You'll sign some stuff, and then be asked to get measured (Height/Weight) and give a urine sample, so I hope you had a bunch of water before heading out. Though, the wait times can vary, so for your case you'll want a bit of a patient bladder. They'll also take a couple of vials of blood.

  7. You'll be sent off with a number to call and a time of day to do so. It's first-call-first-serve, so be on top of that. If they say to call at 6pm on Friday, you start calling at 5:55. The line will open up when it's ready, and you'll want to be one of the first to call, or you get put on reserve***.

  8. *** The following applies if you are put on reserve: If you get put on reserve, you still show up, and typically find out in the evening or the next morning if they'll be testing you. If not, you're sent home with a very prorated cheque to compensate you for the little time they got out of you, and you are put into a priority queue for the next study you try to do. I was put on reserve once, and I guess someone failed a breathalyser test or something, because they ended up having me do the test proper.

  9. Reserve or not, you'll show up the evening before the test (Around 6 or 7pm), they'll give another briefing to everybody in the study, and then take a urine sample of the people going in. Again, water up before this. It's a pain sitting around waiting to have to pee. They'll check your bag to make sure you didn't bring any forbidden things. Cameras, sharp things, fire making things, phones, any edible stuff. If they find it, they'll confiscate it until you head home. If your laptop has a camera on it, they'll cover it with fancy tape.

  10. They'll have you do a breathalyser test, feed you food, and then send you to bed at some point. You wake up bright and early and The test begins!

  11. You have blood taken, you're given a pill, then you eat some breakfast. You have to eat the breakfast in a certain time limit, but save some of it until the end of the time limit. For me, this typically means "Eat everything, wait until they come by to ask you to finish, then chug the drink".

  12. You have blood taken a bunch of times while you sit around on a couch and watch whatever everybody else is watching on TV. If you have a laptop/portable gaming device, you can use it, but they tend not to let you charge things outside of in the bedrooms (Which are basically hostel bedrooms). So if your battery is bad, be prepared to stare at a TV. They've got computers and a PS3 or something, but they're in pretty limited numbers. Really, just be ready to sit and watch TV for a full day. It's a bit boring sometimes, but hey, you're being paid to do it!

  13. Lunch and dinner are much like breakfast. Timed, you eat what they give you. This food is typically pretty decent, but sometimes you'll get stuff that really isn't your favourite stuff. You could be like the grown-ass 50-something guy who regularly did trials when I did, and complain out loud about how bad the food is, or you could swallow (pun totally intended) your words and remember they're literally paying you to eat this food. Be a cool dude, accept that sometimes it's not amazing, and be thankful when it's actually quite good, because it often is.

  14. As the day goes on, the blood draws are less and less frequent. Starting out about every 15 minutes, and tapering to every 1 or 2 hours. You go to bed, wake up in the morning for one last blood draw (Though some tests will have a middle of the night draw, where they wake you up after 4 hours of sleep), they then send you home with your belongings and a granola bar at like 7am.

  15. Often, the tests that pay the best are the ones that have you return for blood draws over the next few days. You show up within a 1 hour window, have blood taken, go back home. Do this 0-3 times depending on the test, then wait until the next period if there is one.

  16. After the last period, and the last blood draw (If any), you're given a cheque, you cash it, and your bank gives you hell for cashing like a $1400 cheque out of nowhere. But it clears and then you're all like "Yea, money!"

Yeah, it's something like that.

Since I'm sure you're curious, when I tested the generic brand of Viagra, it wasn't like the movies make it seem. Stuff was much more sensitive, but I wasn't standing at attention for 2 straight hours or whatever. A couple of people couldn't handle the redirected bloodflow and passed out, having convulsions. They were fine after the fact, it's just a side effect of a severe head rush (nawm sayn?), though it did spook some people.

Some of the tests are different, you stay for a longer period of time, etc. All of the ones I did were the "Stay overnight, do the test, stay overnight, go home. Wait a week or so, then come back and do it all again." and paid around $900-$1400. I'm sure it looks daunting because I pretty much wrote an essay about it, but that's everything I can think of that you'd need to know. If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer them, when I'm free.

Q&A

(Nothing to see here, yet!)

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