The people who get paid to get sick

I went inside the former hotel where, for science (and money), people are volunteering to get colds, flu, and RSV. ■ Challenge trials looking for volunteers: flucamp.com/ and www.1daysooner...
This isn't an advert! the subject was suggested by the team at 1DaySooner, but that's it: no money changed hands and no editorial control was given away.
Two bonus facts I couldn't fit in the main video:
😷 There are some challenge trials which require stronger quarantine protocols or negative-pressure rooms, but they're much more rare (and much more difficult to film)
🧻 The tissues that volunteers sneeze into have to be put into a separate bag, so they can be weighed
Camera by Jamie MacLeod
Edited by Julian Domanski
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
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[@TomScottGo]

And thus ends the accidental trilogy of videos where I've got some sort of protective clothing on! The pinned comment plug this week is for my newsletter: if you want interesting links in your inbox every Monday, go here: www.tomscott.com/newsletter/

[@ክፉየዩቲዩብእጀታ]

Brraaarrrtttt

[@coolchannelyt]

hi tom im here :D

[@imoutodaisuki]

5:52 nice walk on the short corridor!

[@hatjodelka]

One thing I'd love you to do is how these trials (drug trials too) are largely men. One of the recent 'Alzheimer's breakthrough drug' doesn't work for women (who are more likely to develop the disease). Please cover this.

[@typerightseesight]

Thats like the time I paid $300 a month rent to live in a storage unit before I got gang raped by a mortage broker/real estate agent.

[@TMWriting]

I used to do clinical trials (before I found a full-time job) and it always made me laugh so hard when the contracts specifically point out that they're paying you for your TIME and not paying you to be experimented on.

[@Michaelsmith21588]

exactly 😀

[@ten060]

I mean, that's the ethics of it. It's unethical to incentivise people to risk their health for money, but it's also unethical to not reimburse people for their time. Therefore, people are paid at a UK minimum wage rate (~£9.50/hr). However, as they're under controlled circumstances 24/7 for 2 weeks, that adds up to a lot of hours (350+), which means you'll be paid ~£3.5k. Makes sense to me.

[@jwalster9412]

"if you get sick, that was not on us, that was you. "

[@Archimedes.5000]

@@tbotalpha8133because they are being purposefully infected? This is not an experimental treatment like regular clinical trials are, you are creating a risk instead of at worst reducing it by placebo effectiveness

[@Archimedes.5000]

@@alexm9479good point, I didn't think of this

[@johnchessant3012]

4:17 "do not use provided tissues for anything other than sneezing or blowing your nose"

[@KiliGraphics]

No more word needed than this

[@Mr47steam]

"let the guy get his rocks off"

[@l.u.c.a.s.]

There's probably regular toilet paper in the bathroom for other needs ;)

[@Insan1tyW0lf]

"Tissues are treated with antimicrobial compounds which may cause irritation to sensitive skin." And/or: "Tissues are collected and analysed for mucus viral load monitoring. Non-nasal secretions may throw off results."

[@ShenDoodles]

@Mr. MXB There's a PlayStation

[@Koopaperson]

Tom could put anything in a title, add (For science) and then legitimately explain why it’s for science

[@JonathanCorwin]

SpongeBob SquarePants (for science)

[@bod-7268]

Why i ate bat soup in Wuhan (For science)

[@mrcoolz5541]

Blowing people up (for science)

[@fang_xianfu]

These people put things up their bottoms (for science)

[@victoriaeads6126]

Only because Tom has a reputation for legitimacy and for NEVER producing clickbait. Love you, Tom!

[@Picobits]

Funnily enough, I applied to this exact clinical trial (FluCamp). They rejected me on account of being too healthy. I had the antibodies for everything they were testing...

[@jomarcentermjm]

Would be funny if they did a reverse and check on you on how you have every immunity

[@Demonrifts]

@@jomarcentermjm Your body develops antibodies, primarily, by being exposed to a virus. So OP has apparently been exposed and recovered from the viruses that they were testing vaccines for.

[@ArDeeMee]

Ha! That‘s the best reason for failing.

[@Thunderclap117]

@@jomarcentermjm cheat codes

[@hiimcortana1568]

Lmao. That's the best thing you could hear for getting rejected

[@carriebartkowiak]

I know a lot of authors who would gladly go into this program, as long as they were permitted to keep working on their manuscripts. A quiet, peaceful room without constant interruptions every five minutes from family and the siren's call of never-ending household chores? Usually they have to pay quite a lot of money at a local hotel for that.

[@jmckendry84]

The catch though is that you might get sick while you're trying to write!

[@samaradragonhart5719]

I thought the same thing. And if you do get sick, that's just extra writing material.

[@mythtree6348]

odd that you say this .. i was living next to JKRowling when i considered doing such a drug trial. Fortunately now I know how corrupt medical science is and i wouldnt touch it with a bargepole. How on earth have you not noticed the last few years ???

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Perhaps getting infected with a virus is the cure to writer's block.

[@mythtree6348]

@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Orwell was dying of TB when he wrote 1984. Sadly nobody heeded his book tho so he shouldnt have bothered. I cant believe you folks are so in the dark.

[@VTimmoni]

I literally owe people like this my life.

[@JokeswithMitochondria]

I owe my life to shrek

[@tomhappening]

@@JokeswithMitochondria funny username

[@trumpputinkim]

what

[@clray123]

I owe them 3 lost years of my life.

[@thomasace2547]

Why?

[@TomScottGo]

I would like to clarify that when I said "great content" at the start, I meant it ironically. No-one's work should ever have to be referred to as "content".

[@elquesohombre9931]

How was this written 13 days ago

[@halcyon_starlight]

@@elquesohombre9931 O.O

[@Chickaqee]

@@elquesohombre9931 and why does it have such few likes

[@MikevanLieshout]

​@@elquesohombre9931 members get the videos earlier

[@rukiakuckiki3980]

That's super cool of you to come back and specify that. I look up to your respect for others a lot. Thank you for being such a good human

[@P0PE418]

Dammit, I wish they had this stuff in my area I’d be doing this as much as I could, helping science and getting to lay sick and play video games.

[@theyruinedyoutubeagain]

I'd be self-conscious enough that I'd keep working on my laptop.

[@dakoderii4221]

The propaganda is working well. Edward Bernays and Joseph Mengele would be proud.

[@mykeljmoney]

I saw that PS4. I could manage gaming for a few weeks.

[@nexustom5823]

​@@theyruinedyoutubeagainidk I think will be good for teens or college students making quick bagwhen job is not really important

[@firecrow7973]

@@nexustom5823 2k a week is way more than i make

[@keyholes]

From an immunosuppressed person: Thank you. You are a crucial part of life-saving work.

[@ItzChickenYall]

What that mean ? 🧐🧐

[@2wen98]

@@ItzChickenYall their immune system doesn't work, or not very well. any illness could be deadly to them

[@ciclon5682]

so. let me get this straight: im paid. and i am also given a private room, for a few weeks, with food, treats, a tv, a ps4, and all i have to do is, get the flu.. and its also for the good of medicine as a whole.. as long as its fully concensual, i have no ethical complains with this, hell if i am healthy enough i might volunteer myself to do this, worst case scenario there is an entire team of highly skilled medics ready to tend to me if things go south.

[@rossstewart9475]

You didn't get it entirely straight, I'm afraid: You forgot the part where you're given experimental drugs. Worst case scenario, there are long term consequences for the drugs you're given that didn't show up in animal testing. This important detail is why there is an ethical question hanging over the concept. Renumerating those who volunteer sems appropriate, but given that poverty and the threat of poverty is a thing, it becomes uncomfortable when we might consider that an individual could feel forced to join such trials to pay for their existence. The glories of capitalism, I guess.

[@Dkgow]

It may be the flu this time, it may be super covid the next. You never know what you may get or what you will feel for it. I would do this, but I am sure having an adverse reaction to needles, I would be disqualified as they wouldn't want someone like me to be injected. They wouldn't know if it was my adverse reaction (fear of needles) or if it was the virus itself.

[@durdleduc8520]

@@Dkgow they wouldn't give you super covid, the entire point is that they are administering a virus that they know you will recover from. there would have to be a severe mishap for you to actually get threatened. doctors do not mess around

[@derp777_]

@@Dkgow well, you will know what you'll get. that's part of the whole informed consent thing. you sign up for a study about a specific virus and you know you're getting the common cold or influenza or super covid when you're signing the consent form, long before you get infected.

[@sircalvin]

@@Dkgow i may be wrong but last time i checked a fear of needles does not have similar symptoms to a respiratory virus also you know exactly what you're getting, in the the thingy you sign

[@rickseiden1]

£4,000 - £4,500 is a lot of money and could really help someone between jobs. Also, it's more than that. You don't have to pay the "cost of living" expenses like food or basic necessities while you're in there. I can really see this program as being appealing to people who need some money in a very bad way.

[@roguegryphonica3147]

Considering how things will be by winter they will have plenty of people as paid volunteers

[@jacksongatens2419]

I know a guy who did this in Philly a couple years ago he said most of the people he did it with were guys in and out of prison or homeless people who got clean long enough to take part in the trial

[@FlamRackett]

I signed up to a very similar scheme at aged 18 when I was unemployed. They were offering £2000, plus paid travel. I was ready to go until I got offered a job and had to cancel

[@Decodeish1]

However, this raises ethical questions mainly regarding the use of poor people for "risky" experiements. This is quite similar to the human egg extraction or organ extraction if you give money for it you specifically target poor people which is not what the study should use (as this abuses their position). I get the point but it's quite ethically difficult to do programs like this. This is why they say that the people are compensated for their time rather than being paid for it.

[@hastyscorpion]

@@Decodeish1 on the flip side with no financial incentive you would get significantly less people doing it. Which hurts humanity as a whole.

[@Sergeantmajormario]

Me at the start of this video: "Oh lord... I can't imagine people doing that..." Dr Andrew Catchpole "People are compensated for their time here, usually £4,000" Me: ".....Just a couple of weeks, huh?" Edit: people in my replies talking about the differences in the salaries. I'm an unemployed Brit, so that's nearly a years worth of Universal Credit for just 2 weeks

[@smugler]

That's like a 2 years salary in my country.

[@Tarks_Coady_EFC]

​@@smugler Where u from bro?

[@noelic6744]

@@Tarks_Coady_EFC That's like the salary for the lower end of the middle class people in Bangladesh.

[@mastaw]

​@@noelic6744per what?

[@nuip7936]

@@mastaw annual salary

[@retrojournalist]

To all people who are part of this: you have my respect.

[@Pehmokettu]

This reminds me of one Finnish research project where you got a free trip to Benin (a country in Africa) and you were free to do anything in the area but if you got diarrhea then you had to poo in a plastic bag and call a researcher to pick up the diarrhea sample for the experiment. They were researching ways to prevent and cure diarrhea.

[@tbotalpha8133]

Why would you send someone to an area prone to diarrhea-causing diseases, in the hope that they'd get sick? You could just go there yourself, find some people who are already suffering, take samples from them, pay them for their... products, and then take that stuff away for analysis. And if you really needed a live and compliant subject, it would be far safer and more reliable to transport your samples back home, isolate the disease in a lab, then infect paid volunteers in a controlled environment. This supposed research project makes no sense.

[@theninja4137]

​@@tbotalpha8133 I guess they wanted to know how non-immune Europeans react to exposure of bacteria there Taking samples of the local population would be different to samples from people who were not exposed to local germs before. Intentionally infecting people tells you nothing about what strains they'd be infected with

[@draconblade]

@@tbotalpha8133 They were testing a vaccination against "travelers' diarrhoea" and testing mental wellbeing due to traveling to the tropics . The paper is called "A Two-Week Vacation in the Tropics and Psychological Well-Being-An Observational Follow-Up Study".

[@TryinaD]

I would willingly take this experiment to travel to Bali (I’m Indonesian but lives overseas and have been for 5 years)

[@MrTeddy12397]

@@tbotalpha8133 locals are more resistant to diarrhea, travellers are extremely suspectible.

[@oakenshadow6763]

Wow. I never knew this was a thing. Awesome. Thank you to everyone who does this. I worked in a grocery store all through Covid. I risked my life with far less compensation.

[@oakenshadow6763]

@@mythtree6348 I knew about clinical trials for medications. I just never thought of this side of it.

[@Zveebo]

£4k for two week in what looks likes a pretty comfortable environment really isn’t too bad at all, even if it does involve getting ill for a bit. And you’re doing your bit to help advance medical science 👍

[@kakyoindonut3213]

"isn't too bad at all" no it's too good actually

[@slick.deuceman01]

how did you find out the figure for the compensation? I can't find the amount you'd get paid on the website anywhere

[@leoshaw4675]

I paused the video when it said 4 and signed up

[@Miragexe]

@@slick.deuceman01 Literally in the video

[@MartijnPennings]

Well, the thing is, there can be strong side effects to both viruses and vaccines. If one side effect is: one in a million will die, would you still take the money?

[@Eliska_Premyslovna]

I should have known about this when I wrote my thesis. Not being able to procrastinate by cleaning my entire apartment and cooking elaborate meals would be a big help.

[@theninja4137]

If you lucked out and didn't get ill/only mildly so yes. But you could also end up losing a week or two of time until the deadline

[@Escap1st7]

@@theninja4137 eh, you'll be $4k well off either way

[@StefandeJong1]

I've volunteered for drug trials 4 times so far. Always super professional, super nice medical personnel - and the people you're staying with is generally a very good time as well. Kept a few friends from those trials.

[@aspuzling]

Were you quarantined with other participants?

[@StefandeJong1]

@@aspuzling You couldn't leave as you were under evaluation every hour, but personnel was never in over the top PPE as we weren't dealing with viruses here, but testing side-effects of medication

[@aspuzling]

@@StefandeJong1 ok, but were you able to speak to other participants, or staff only?

[@ciclon5682]

@@aspuzling usually in tests like these you are not allowed to talk to other participants unless its needed for any reason. usually they try to track individual progress.

[@joostfloot5279]

Bij welke organisatie?

[@rafielk3606]

2:26 at least the researchers have a sense of irony and comedy, offering sims 4 as one of the ps4 games when you are inside in quarantine

[@jamieabraham-brett2978]

I did this exact same trial in London 10 years ago, easiest £3.5k I've ever made, loved it! Weirdest thing was having no daylight and nurses said all of our sleeping patterns had synced up over 10 days...

[@shambhav9534]

Seems like the sleep patterns were the more fascinating study.

[@Powpineapple_Studios]

Drug trials are literally in my biology test tomorrow. Thx for the revision Tom

[@adrianthoroughgood1191]

Good luck!

[@mimii694]

Good luck!! I think my younger brother is doing the same exam tmrw if you're doing AQA

[@greezchum76]

And the stars aligned

[@rachelelizabethdare1981]

Same! Good luck:)

[@thekeithfulbarrums]

GCSE student? good luck!

[@danawhite9823]

I love that Tom gets to travel the world, dropping knowledge for all of us.

[@matthewbrotman2907]

This one, of course, is probably like three Tube stops from his home 😆

[@danawhite9823]

@@matthewbrotman2907 HA! He might be happy to be home for a few days, too!

[@soranuareane]

THANK YOU FOR DOING A VIDEO ON THIS!!! Voluntary trials like this are an immense asset to the medical industry for developing and testing vaccines. All vaccines must go through a similar process and these people are furthering our ability to develop and test vaccines.

[@LHyoutube]

@@TheStupidDetectiv - Yes, all vaccines. As he clearly said.

[@josephcaisley560]

I did a trial here in March. Got paid £3.25k, great experience would definitely do it again. Good for if you’re self employed or WFH

[@josephcaisley560]

I didn’t even get sick

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@josephcaisley560 Just wait for the next pandemic. You might get some bennies.

[@OriginalG8trdan]

I'm Glad this is happening. We needed this research.

[@Rosskles]

We've always needed this research and many people are alive today thanks to decades of this type of research.

[@lockethomas7165]

You maybe a little bit brainwashed son, just maybe.

[@mythtree6348]

@@Rosskles i literally fell off my seat at your naivete .. oh dear. Please learn to use the internet and research stuff . :(

[@jamesbellamy9328]

@ Myth Tree Thanks for the tip, I do love researching “stuff”. Maybe I’ll start with Byzantine tax law, what do you reckon?

[@LHyoutube]

@@mythtree6348 - WTF are you talking about?! 😂

[@Sentinel-cc3lo]

£4,000 to sit in a room and play Bloodborne for two weeks without seeing anyone? I did that for 4 months in 2020 for free.

[@stevenhicks3321]

zelda tears of the kingdom came out .. just saying..

[@smolmemes2351]

ah well at least most of us got the virus for free which was created in such labs

[@einCAA]

Can you join such a test, while also being a remote-worker? Being in quarantine while continuing to work "normally" is probably easier than being bored 24/7.

[@dutchglobetrotter4513]

Off course you can, Tom had a video call with that guy so there is his speed internet.

[@Soul-Burn]

From their FAQs: "Volunteers are allowed electronic devices such as laptops and smart phones so you are able to stay in touch with your family member/friend throughout their stay." "Volunteers can bring almost anything to make their room feel more like home. Our team need space to carry out their work, so there’s not enough room for big items like TVs or desktop computers, but most things like laptops, iPad's and any small musical instruments are very welcome." They don't mention anything about remote working, neither for the positive or the negative.

[@noelh9842]

I would think so. You would only need to be supervised so I'm guessing as long as you are staying there you could do what you like.

[@TheEvilMammal]

probably best to contact a place that does something like this and ask.

[@redfailhawk]

I was looking into this--as long as your item needs for such work aren't excessive, the answer appears to be yes!

[@waffles3629]

Major props to the people who do medical trials. I never could, one look at my medical history would be automatic rejection. But I've been on so many meds for so many things that have greatly improved my life.

[@MNNski]

Not going to lie, I already work a dangerous job for less then what they pay these people. I'd definitely do this.

[@tuckerbugeater]

You can do for free when they release the next pandemic.

[@jo5hua0680]

Sorry if I’m being too curious, but now I am. What job?

[@MNNski]

@@jo5hua0680 I work in an iron refinery.

[@Angel-nb9st]

thanks to them for their time and health for the rest of us to be safe

[@sundaynightdrunk]

When I was a broke college student, I'd sign up for psychological trials done by students who would pay small amounts of money (like $25 in the late '80s) to give me a little walking around money, but £4000 is a lot of money, even today. I think I'd go for it if I was having a bit of trouble financially.

[@HannaHasAPlan]

My son suffered terribly when he was a baby and caught RSV. I appreciate everyone taking part in these vaccine trials - staff and participants 🙏🏻

[@VickiVampiressYT]

I'm always amazed at the amount of interesting people and things Tom manages to find after all the videos he's done over the years. I think I learned more about what kind of interesting things there are in the world from Tom Scott than I ever would have from school books.

[@NoName-ik2du]

As a person who has had doctors tell me something has "little to no risk" of long-term complications, followed by what turned out to be completely devastating complications, I can't possibly fathom doing something like this. The pay's not too stellar either... If they are quarantined for two weeks, £4,000 - £4,500 only works out to £11.90 - £13.39 per hour.

[@NoName-ik2du]

@Adam Gutierrez ​ You are working 24 hours a day. It literally consumes your entire life until it's over. A month doing this is the equivalent of four and a half normal work months of your time invested.

[@Verdugo_Arulaq]

This is actually really interesting, as a kid this kind of thing always fascinated me, I wondered if it was possible and if so have we done it already. Little 12 year old me feels validated by Tom rn lmao

[@justin.booth.]

I applied for this and got past two rounds of screening but unfortunately already had antibodies for the virus being tested 😢

[@ClockworkChainsaw]

There's always the next virus!

[@ThexMJT]

Where did you find out about the trials?

[@ChimeraX0401]

​@@ThexMJTThey are announced by CDC (if it is a major one like the covid vaccine) or you can go to research universities and ask there if they will be doing medical trials....

[@j0nnyism]

No way would I do this. These guys are very brave the idea of being intentionally infected is a terrifying idea for me

[@ali_m_]

I would do this entirely for the cause of fowarding the cause of curing sicknesses, all that stuff provided is just a bonus.

[@lifeintornadoalley]

My neighbor was a trial patient. Me being a good teen, on the weekends we'd go from buffalo NY to Ann arbor Michigan for neurology trials. It was very weird. They weren't themselves for a minute 😔.

[@Celtic_Amy]

I wasn't sick with something in June of 2019 and Fall of 2019. Then I wasn't sick at all between January 2020-October 2022. I got COVID19 mid November 2022 followed by what I believe to be RSV on December 22, 2022. The combination of the two really had me sick. I have a great immune system, but a lesser immune system would have put me in the hospital. Getting paid £4,000 and only have mild symptoms would be ideal for someone out of work and will save lives.

[@beaulynskey8470]

I remember when I was bed ridden after testing positive through a lateral flow test and contacting my tutor through email about my news, only to come back to uni the following week when my PCR test results came back negative. 🤒😊

[@anomonyous]

It's like people who give blood or plasma, but a little more extensive. Again, the world we live in today is what makes these things seem a bit icky. Being rewarded for doing something for the community isn't a bad thing. It's a noble pursuit, and it saves lives.

[@Pysslis]

You don’t risk getting chronically ill from giving blood though.

[@Heksu99]

Yes, but the limit how often you are allowed is different from what is suggested

[@bijou2]

Also, you don't get paid money for giving blood in the UK. What you get is a drink (squash/tea/coffee), and some crisps(chips) or biscuits(cookies)

[@supxrkicks560]

@@Pysslis the risk of *chronic* illness here is very, very low. it's as controlled an environment as it's going to get.

[@LHyoutube]

@@Pysslis - Nor do you in these studies either.

[@koenven7012]

I currently work in my company on such a challenge trial for Dengue. I only do data analysis, but it's very interesting to see how the participants in the trial live as I haven't seen that before. Thanks Tom for giving me a glimpse into the world my data comes from.

[@invisiblesteve9523]

I love doing clinical trials for my eczema. Typical treatments haven't worked consistently, and I'm really into science, so it's interesting to see what's being tested for the market over the next few years. I've never done one on the inpatient level, but I wouldn't mind it. It's crazy to have something work well enough that it shows you what real quality of life is like (I also have some undiagnosed autoimmune disorder) and then go back to your 'normal' level of illness after the trial is up. Yay scientific innovation!

[@beybladetunada5697]

You have no Idea how many people would be down to spend quality time, even if sick, on a cozy room like this with a playstation and snacks and getting paid, hell I want to do it!

[@DJFreeway-DJExit-DJClaritin]

Only issue for me is the unknown percentage of chance of getting physically ill, everything else is a pro.

[@kablovskisenior447]

Tom Scott makes a good point: plenty of other dangerous jobs exist, that don’t let you chill in a hotel with an Xbox all day long. We should let people make decisions about their jobs and what risks to take on themselves.

[@BlastedUniqueIdentifiers]

Not to mention, most of those jobs aren't as clear about being potentially dangerous.

[@WolfgangDoW]

And especially in America many people get truly awful or dangerous jobs cos it's the only way to get any access to basic healthcare

[@candiidoggii1360]

thank you for your service tom

[@jama211]

I could never but I'm so glad there are people that do

[@nicholasosullivan831]

As someone who recently got RSV, I've had post-viral fatigue for weeks. I don't envy those people

[@dancoulson6579]

I think it's a perfectly good idea. So long as the risks are made abundantly clear to the subject. If they're making an informed decision, then I see no ethical problem with it.

[@ultimatefandom3127]

Clinical trials are really interesting, and amazing work, hopefully we find a way to at least mitigate serious versions of flu and the cold.

[@Ludix147]

They did malaria challenge trials at my university a few years back, a few of my friends considered getting infected, but they didn't go through with it :D The next iteration was deemed less risky and compensation was lower.

[@PrograError]

well... risk and reward...

[@camillechauve1352]

Top Ten Tom Scott Titles

[@arrjay2410]

I knew places like this exist, and not just in England. It's interesting to see the interior of one and get it's workings explained. I'm too old to risk this sort of thing now (not to mention a few health issues that go with age). Very interesting, good report.

[@philipsullivan4885]

Thanks to those brave enough for this kind of work.

[@thiccc30n]

Tutorial: how to call in sick for work for free.

[@647Max]

U don’t have to be sick to call in sick 👽

[@szhu25]

Company: You can still work remotely, no?

[@Rosskles]

"And get paid for it"

[@georgiykireev9678]

Tfw you calling in sick IS the job

[@mohaa556]

@@szhu25 I did actually thought about how effective it would be if I did that. Most of my work I do remotely anyways all I would need is a stable internet access and I could do my work, do some gaming after work and get paid 4-5k extra on top of my normal salary. Shame I don't live in the UK.

[@verity3616]

This is a good-hearted video and nice to see such a respectful display of both the volunteer patient and laboratory side of things! Often the hands-on care folks are seen as heroes in medicine, but public health relies on data crunchers, pipettes, and articulate patients too. I don't mind if people do this for money (either videos or volunteer). Knowledge is _vital_ for improving outcomes and awareness increases participation!

[@DeeTofa]

The biggest hack is working a remote job while getting paid to stay in the room. Also, I assume they pay for food so that's another plus.

[@user-uq4hh1xh3y]

Fortune for him , he is not cowardly and is helping Doctors, so much , Doctors are main Authority while reciting new Medicines no one has ever heard before; I like this market similar to blood donations

[@Mushroomlover06]

Ong.. Tysm for being willing to risk ur life for us. U clinical trial people are the reason most of us are alive today. Real respect. ❤

[@jamesangel140]

I did this! It was really east very comfortable. Just played ps4 for 2 weeks with mates, didnt even get ill at all. Would definitely do it again

[@carlbutcher2268]

Used to have a work colleague who would use his paid holiday to do this. Tried it myself, but they're very stringent about the kinds of test subjects they'll take. Everyone has to conform to a very specific body type to reduce test variables, and while I meet the criteria for being a white male of approximately average height, their pre-screening tests are also how I found out I have cholesterol issues that exempt me from this. 😅

[@Ascertivus]

A seemingly very noble cause. I have a lot of respect for those who participate.

[@lisak4928]

I remember seeing ads for this all the time back when I still lived in England! So cool that its actually helping

[@HollowSun]

The idea of Tom not wearing his red t-shirt was so inconceivable to me that I glanced at the thumbnail and assumed some huge mistake had been made in colour correction

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Tom now has four outfits: - red t-shirt - gray hoodie - suit - blue scrubs

[@hythonwolf4551]

Made me very happy to see him in the room i was quarantined in, for some reason 😂 Thanks for raising more awareness of this!

[@boopydoopy4506]

So glad that Tom is promoting these kinds of trials!

[@thatonekidonaboat1269]

I did a mock for RSV clinical trials for my GCSE biology exam yesterday! Did very well on the actual paper today, so waiting for the results!

[@firmi_2119]

Good luck!

[@BreakyTime]

These volunteers are heroes

[@Pyrozoid]

Tom showing the proper way to clean your hands with soap. Good on ya tom

[@mevanjooo2475]

I did this in a waiting semester while in uni. Ijust made music all day and played apex. And i got paid for it to. Such a cool thing to do if your able, cause you can be lazy for the greater good.

[@navigator1819]

How sick did you become?

[@gameeverything816]

What I want to know is if in the history of this place has anyone ever died or became seriously ill?

[@jxh02]

The tag-line, Spread The Word, is genius.

[@aresef]

There’s a guy here in Baltimore who went viral (heh) for doing a dysentery challenge trial and tweeting through it.

[@ajfurnari2448]

Tom should have demanded a red scrubs top, for continuity.

[@davidrenton]

it would be wise to mention that sometimes these trials go wrong even if rare , there was a trial in the UK for TGN1412 in 2006 (a experimental leukaemia drug) at London’s Northwick Park Hospital, to quote "Within an hour of receiving the drug, six of the volunteers had been rushed to intensive care where they were fighting for their lives." with people suffering from multiple organ failure, 1 had to have his toes and parts of his fingers and feet amputated. Sure this is an outlier , but these trials are effectively using you as a Guinea pig

[@djtwo2]

But the protocols for testing new drugs have since been changed. For example, by starting off with very weak doses.

[@28_futaba]

Very scary

[@simhthmss]

I believe something similar happened with an anti inflamatory that swelled up people's brains. Even a low dose of something that turns out to be very dangerous for humans can mess you up. It's likely rare (and even more so now) but still something to consider. I am guessing that no study can say that they are 100% without risk of a serious adverse reaction.

[@brianpso]

We have those here in NZ as well and I've made a lot of money from them! Our trials don't require the patient to receive the virus though, it's usually just a medication and then we're monitored for side effects and whatever else the study is trying to find. It's really good money, and there are quite some people who can work from home that enroll on these for some extra money. Australia is quite big on those as well, and you can even do them while being a tourist there!

[@northstarjakobs]

I've always wondered how people were able to get the yearly flu shots out so quickly, so it's cool to know that this sort of research helps get those vaccines out faster. Thanks to the annual jab, I've only gotten a handful of cases of bad flu throughout my life, and only once have I required any kind of medical treatment for one (a lingering cough that I still had two months afterwards).

[@neonspookify]

Post-viral syndromes can be incredibly debilitating. I have ME/CFS from an EBV infection and there are no current treatments, and I'm 90% bedbound from it. It's a horrible illness and I worry how many people develop it after doing these trials.

[@velily1]

Nooo Tom I was trying to keep this magic money trick a secret and now millions of people are gonna know and I’m probably never gonna get picked 😭

[@RobertShippey]

I think they have to be very selective, most people aren’t eligible for some reason or another. You’ll probably still get picked if you’re eligible.

[@rev.rachel]

This is wild. I can't imagine trying to put this together in a completely ethical way, and I don't love that studies like this often disproportionately use poorer folks as research subjects because they need the cash. At the same time, I'm thankful for what we have learned from the people who have been willing to risk their health, and I hope that we can keep improving our ethical standards as scientific communities.

[@ArDeeMee]

The alternative is human experimentation without recompensation, such as we tend to do in poorer countries. There’s nothing more beneficial to large scale drug testing than poor, illiterate people. And if they die, it’s obviously from their awful living conditions. 👍

[@driverm4544]

I used to do this myself, and the payouts were quite handsome. Made for great kickbacks during uni, and you weren't given anything that they couldn't actively cure. My trials were around some more serious infections, like Malaria, but there were different stages of trial, from just seeing if a vaccine would theoretically work, to themln putting it to a challenge. While we were paid for our time, you did conveniently get more cash if you were part of an infection trial. My "see if the vaccine can theoretically work" was $4500, but if you were brave and wanted to go to the next stage, you got $9000

[@markylon]

When Rob Oldfield signed up for a drugs trial at Northwick Park Hospital in 2006, he thought he had found a way to earn some easy money, and do his bit for medical science. But the trial went disastrously wrong, leaving him and five other healthy men fighting for their lives.

[@scottd9448]

I thought about doing one of these a long time ago when I was unemployed for a short time. I thought about it for a while & then found about the trial I was looking at (TGN1412 trial at Northwick Park Hospital in 2006). It was local to me at the time & it didn't go well. Very glad I missed it.

[@28_futaba]

Omg I'm glad you didn't go!

[@scottd9448]

@@28_futaba so am I.

[@supernenechi]

This is the sort of thing we will probably look back on in a few decades and call it archaic, but right now it's lifesaving.

[@LoganHollowC]

@@conor7154 hundreds of thousands die globally from the flu every year. It can cause further complications like pneumonia. Esp affects elderly and immunocompromised people.

[@Humulator]

@@conor7154 there are many(about 50,000 die from it in a year). But this isn't just the flu, it can be any other virus

[@stevethepocket]

@@conor7154 Try going back to 1918 and asking that. Actually, no, that wouldn't work; a lot of people would have agreed with you. _That's why they died._

[@SwordFreakPower]

I feel like you should have talked a bit more about the drug trials aspect of it. Getting a virus administered is scary but testing drugs (even if 'save for humans') is also quite scary.

[@PrograError]

I think there's some NDAs to do with it... plus I think the Subject is the facility, drug trial is just the side dish

[@jay-d8g3v]

Honestly, the sickness for me is nothing, it's the drugs they give you to experiment on you is the problem, you don't know what's in it nor know the long term effects of it

[@LHyoutube]

Vaccines typically don't have the same kind of risk profiles that other drugs (i.e. medications do). Vaccines usually vary more in their effectiveness against the thing being vaccinated against, than they vary in their side-effects on the subject. That's not to say there is zero risk of side-effects or adverse reactions, of course, but it's a vastly lesser concern when compared to testing other medications.

[@PhoebeHB]

I've been contemplating taking a week or two off work just to properly relax and not travel anywhere, just watch TV and read, and now I'm hearing I could get 4k for doing it?!

[@ferretyluv]

I don’t see anything unethical about it. This is what informed consent is about. As long as everyone knows the risks ahead of time and they’re taken care of, there’s no issue. These studies make it very clear what’s happening, why, what the risks are, and what precautions to take.

[@christopher32074]

Back at 2020 when I hear the word “quarantine” I think of rooms at negative pressure. Rooms have layers of protective plastic covering the walls and floors along with special filters and machines to take in oxygen from outside and not letting contagious atmospheres from extremely infected patients from escaping.

[@tradetech7889]

Not needed when actual random strands of non living RNA (alleged viruses)have no actual ability to harm you or enter healthy living cells. The Perth Group

[@colin-halter]

If they wanted to reliably get people sick, they could have just put them in a room with three toddlers for 15 minutes instead of going to all the trouble of manufacturing the disease. They're hobbling little incubators

[@a007j007]

Very interesting. I'd have liked to know what they do in the event of a fire or some evactuation-causing emergency. Do a bunch of infected people just file out onto the street?

[@Sakkura1]

Bear in mind this virus isn't really dangerous. The main reason for the quarantine is to ensure the subjects are only infected with that one particular virus and at the right exposure level, to get good data. So if they have to be evacuated due to a fire, that'll mess up weeks worth of experiments, but it isn't going to spread anything dangerous to the rest of the world.

[@ciclon5682]

considering the viruses they use are very diluted and weak. i think that in the case of a life threatening emergency. they would risk it and evacuate anyways.

[@LHyoutube]

Yes, of course they do. As someone else already explained, the diseases involved are minor and already very common in the outside population. The worst that would happen from people having to evacuate is possibly compromising the study therefore the results from those particular participants needing to be discarded.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Since the participants in the studies are living in relative isolation for a relatively significant time, I'd be interested to know if there's any noted mental effects. Have there been psychological studies on these volunteers?

[@karieschneider746]

When I attended SUNY Brockport in the late 1970's, I knew several students who participated in studies...they were houses in hotel rooms, and paid to get sick and then test treatments. It was really good money. I was too much of a wuss, and never applied.

[@rakeau]

I’d be worried about not getting enough sunlight or fresh air. I’d bet recovery etc would be impacted by having those versus being sealed in a room!

[@MadJack_]

Few years ago I was genuinely interested in doing something like this. However due some of my own medical conditions I don't think I would be able to qualify. Maybe one day as it would seriously be cool!

[@Sareaesque]

same, I applied for one of these schemes but they couldn't accommodate be because I'm a coeliac.

[@bodyrumuae2914]

I don't see where there is an ethics or moral violation if someone volunteers to get sick or whatever else for the sake of research, whether they agree to do it for pay, or even agree to participate for free. I'd say the violation would be even if you paid them, but subjected them to the study against their will, or whatever else that they don't agree to partake in.

[@Coastal_Cruzer]

Exactly

[@tangentfox4677]

I would do this if I'm allowed to bring my computer. It'd beca good isolated office environment.

[@JackDrewitt]

I signed up for interest in an asthmatic flucamp and am considering doing it this summer

[@ashleyjones4955]

I did this trial in 2021 and was told I had the worst symptoms from the virus they had seen at flucamp but the staff were great and friendly.. I wouldn’t do it again but if someone else wanted to do it I wouldn’t begrudge them for doing so

[@squidsbizarreadventure]

Wait the blue really makes Tom's eyes pop

[@kora8063]

Looking at the advertisements, it feels to me like it isn't easy to find people for this, and I can see why, since being locked in a single room for an unspecified time doesn't sound very fun. And you would lose contact with people and wouldn't even be able to go out for a walk...

[@Jehty_]

It seems like Tom did a poor job in this video. Sure, being in a room for two weeks isn't great, but that's not the main part which should worry you. You get infected with a virus and a new medication. That's the part that should worry you. Maybe even scare you.

[@tarsiere7308]

it's 2023, most people already live like this for no money.

[@moffat5439]

as an introvert, I see this as an absolute win

[@nicolescats2]

It might be easier to get volunteers nowadays than it used to be. Thanks to the Internet, it's easy to interact with others without having to meet them in person. Plus, a scheduled video call with a friend is just more fulfilling than a scheduled phone call. It's still not fun to be stuck in a room, but it's less lonely than it used to be.

[@fitybux4664]

"you would lose contact with people"