Participating in Clinical Trials

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I have received a few comments from people wanting more information about the medical studies. Specifically they wonder if I am worried about the safety of the trials and how one finds a clinical trial to participate in. I´ve covered these topics in previous posts and comments but I´ll try to sum up the information here.

The safety of clinical trials is not something I worry about too much. There is some risk but I think many people vastly overestimate the risk. Many times the drugs I´m taking are already approved drugs but being administered in a different form. Even if they are not already approved drugs they have been extensively tested by the time they have a clinical trial. There are medical staff frequently monitoring you for any signs of side effects so if something were to go wrong they could promptly take care of it. I´ve done at least a dozen medical studies and for most of them I have felt no effects at all. The exceptions were one drug that gave me a headache and a sleeping pill which (not surprisingly) put me to sleep.

While people overestimate the risk of clinical trials I think they underestimate the risk of over-the-counter and prescription medicine. I don´t take any prescription medicine and rarely take any over-the-counter medicine. About half of Americans take at least one prescription drug and one in six take three drugs or more. I couldn’t find statistics on how frequently over-the-counter drugs are taken but since they account for the majority of the medications used in the United States it seems safe to assume they are used more frequently. This leads me to conclude that I take less medication than the average American and am probably not exposed to any more risk than average.

The recent deaths of celebrities such as Danny Gans and Michael Jackson show that just because a medication is prescribed doesn´t mean it is safe. Over-the-counter drugs are also pose dangers as shown by the new acetaminophen warnings that came out earlier this year. Heath Ledger is a famous example of the danger of abusing over-the-counter drugs. This is why I don´t normally take any medication unless I really need it.

If you are wondering how to find a study to participate in it is pretty simple. In my area and other areas I´ve lived there would be advertisements on TV and in the newspaper for upcoming clinical trials. If you don´t see any ads in your area check out ClinicalTrials.gov and GPGP.net to see if there are any clinical trials being conducted in your area.

August Investment Income – $82.51

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My August investment income rose from $82.37 in July to $82.51. This wasn’t much of a rise but considering the market wasn’t doing well and I didn’t add any to my investments this was a good result. Judging from how the market has started September my investment income will likely go down this month as I will not be adding to my investments.

Disclaimer: This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement savings, emergency fund, and any other money I consider permanent savings. What the total of my savings would earn at 6% interest for a month is my monthly investment income.

August Income – $688.22

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Here is a breakdown of my income for August.

Online Income

$324.55

Interest

$96.70

Bonuses

 $150

Stock Dividends

$7.97

Medical Study

$100

Survey

$9

Total

$688.22

Income for August was pretty good considering only $100 of it was from a medical study. Some of the figures might be slightly off since I don’t have access to all my records here in Guatemala. My interest was almost enough to pay my rent for September. My goal for September is to make more in alternative income than expenses this should be possible even without a job because my expenses are so low here. Check back next month and we’ll see how I did.

Guatemala Update 1

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I have made it to Guatemala safely.  I started the trip by trying to sleep in the Miami airport overnight while waiting for my flight to Guatemala the next morning.  It was good to save the money a hotel would have cost and know from experience that I can sleep in the airport if I have to but I probably won´t do it again.  The lights are on in the airport all night and there are announcements every few minutes.  That combined with a hard floor made sleeping very difficult.  I probably slept an hour at most.  There were lots of other people there attempting to sleep but I don´t think most of them had any better luck than me.

When I arrived in Guatemala on Wednesday I was extremely tired.  I didn´t think to negotiate with the taxi driver before I took it to the bus station.  I probably overpaid a couple of bucks but not enough to worry about.  The bus was a little better than I remembered.  The bus used to stop everywhere and pick up more passengers.  Now they don´t do that because of bandits.  This made for a 3 1/2 hour bus ride rather than a 4 hour bus ride.  There were only 6 passengers on the bus and it was a Greyhound style bus.  The bus ticket was roughly $8 and the taxi to the bus station was $12.  I´m not sure how the bus company is making a profit but I´m guessing there are usually more passengers.

Once I arrived in Xela I got a hotel room for the night.  The hotel I remembered was only $4 a night back in 1996.  In 2009 it is still $4 a night.  This is a great bargain.  The rooms are small and you have a common bathroom but for the price it is a great deal.  The cleanliness was better than some hotels I´ve stayed at  in the States.

The next day I went to get my room for the month.  The place I wanted to stay at didn´t have any rooms available though.  I spent most of the day walking around the city looking for a place to live for the next month.  I decided on a hostel that charges about $100 a month.  I have a private room and share bathroom and kitchen facilities with the other guests.  This is the same setup as the place I wanted to stay at although the first place only charges $85 a month.  It is still a pretty good price though.  I spent one more night in the hotel and moved into the hostel this morning.

Now I need to go shopping and get some food.  I´ve been eating at fast food places like McDonalds and Pollo Campero so far.  Fast food costs about as much here as in the U.S.    It is strange that I could pay as much for a fast food meal as a hotel room.

I haven´t found internet service that I´m happy with yet.  The first place I went to had extremely slow computeres.  The next two places (including this one) I´ve gone to have had pop-ups on the computer all the time.  This makes me think the computers probably have viruses so I don´t want to do too much on them.  Hopefully, I can find a better internet place tomorrow and I will have another post then.

August Expenses – $1057.14

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Here are my expenses for August.

Household

$304.02

Entertainment

$34.98

Transportation

 $95.48

Food

$94.13

Medical/Dental

$61.66

Phone

$36.51

Travel

 $241.36

Debt

 $189.00

Total

$1057.14

My expenses were reasonable this month. I would have been under $1000 but Chase raised the minimum payment on my debt from 2% to 5%. I might just go ahead and pay that off.  September expenses should be much lower.  I will be able to rent a room for $85 a month in Xela.  The cost of the plane tickets has been accounted for in earlier months so my only travel costs will be the bus to Xela and the taxi to the bus station and perhaps one night in a hotel.  My next post should be from Guatemala.