Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Jul;115(7):1681-7.
doi: 10.1172/JCI25694.

Payment of clinical research subjects

Christine Grady  1
Affiliations

Payment of clinical research subjects

Christine Grady. J Clin Invest. 2005 Jul.

Abstract

Offering payment to clinical research subjects, in an effort to enhance recruitment by providing an incentive to take part or enabling subjects to participate without financial sacrifice, is a common yet uneven and contentious practice in the US. Concern exists regarding the potential for payment to unduly influence participation and thus obscure risks, impair judgment, or encourage misrepresentation. Heightening these concerns is the participation not only of adults but also of children in pediatric research trials. Thorough assessment of risks, careful eligibility screening, and attention to a participant's freedom to refuse all serve to reduce the possibility of compensation adversely affecting the individual and/or the study. Institutional review boards currently evaluate payment proposals with minimal guidance from federal regulations. Here, reasons for providing payment, payment models, ethical concerns, and areas for further research are examined.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Offering money to clinical research subjects for their participation is a fairly common practice in the US. Yet there is little consensus about why, when, or how much to pay these individuals. Getty Images.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lederer, S. 1995. Subjected to science: human experimentation in America before the Second World War. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, Maryland, USA. 192 pp. - PubMed
    1. NIH. 1959. Healthy volunteers help scientists conquer disease. U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service, NIH. Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 15 pp.
    1. Center Watch Clinical Trials Listing Service. http://www.centerwatch.com.
    1. Dickert N, Emanuel E, Grady C. Paying research subjects: an analysis of current policies. Ann. Intern. Med. 2002;136:368–373. - PubMed
    1. Grady C, Dickert N, Jawetz T, Gensler G, Emanuel E. An analysis of U.S. practices of paying research participants. Contemp. Clin. Trials. 2005;26:365–375. - PubMed