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Food
Feb 7, 2023 22:07:52 GMT -5
Post by ac on Feb 7, 2023 22:07:52 GMT -5
For me the quality of the food isn't that big of a deal. The big deal to me is if the food is mandatory or not. I stopped going to Spaulding because every meal is mandatory all the time including drinks. I'm not ok with that. I like Covance because I can eat or not eat whatever I want. I can skip a whole meal if I don't like what they are offering. I will only go to a clinic that has that policy. No mandatory food or drink for me thank you.
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Post by ac on Oct 3, 2022 7:43:42 GMT -5
I stopped giving plasma so I could go back to do a study, same one you are doing I think. When you do plasma you verify that you haven't done any research studies for at least a year. You could actually go to jail if they found out you gave plasma after doing a research study. You could be putting sick people at great health risk by giving tainted plasma products to them. If you have no morals and don't care about that then another reason not to do both is you could get a bruise on your arm from doing the study and a bruise disqualifies you from giving plasma. You could also have to lie to a research nurse about why you have a bruise on your arm. They may think you are doing another study. You could get banned from future studies. You should choose one or the other, plasma OR studies, not both.
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Post by ac on Sept 19, 2022 6:50:31 GMT -5
How do you do a study if you have a regular job. I have never seen a study that would allow you to maintain a full time job other than studies. Probably won't be able to do both.
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Post by ac on Dec 22, 2021 6:26:14 GMT -5
I hear Spaulding is miserable it's actually pretty good, the food is better and higher quality than most places the building itself is really cool and other than that it's really the same as anywhere else. I don't go there because of the "eat and drink everything all the time" policy. The staff is just lazy and doesn't want to take the garbage downstairs as often. They say it's because the sponsor requires it but I know that's not true. 99% of the time the sponsor does not require it. Until they change that policy I won't be going back even though they pay well and it's the closer facility to my home.
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Post by ac on Dec 21, 2021 21:34:33 GMT -5
Get a doctor's note saying you have the condition and it is the cause of your elevated bilirubin. Be honest about it upfront and show the note to the nurse that does your history as well as the doctor who does your physical. The truth is it will hurt your chances of getting into studies if they have enough people with no health issues but if it's on file with the clinic then you will eventually be able to get into some studies. I know someone who has done several studies at Spaulding even though they know about his condition.
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Post by ac on Dec 21, 2021 21:29:13 GMT -5
On line 6 it will say "additional amount you want withheld from each paycheck". If you think you will have 20 paychecks during the year and you want $2000 to go towards reducing what you owe in taxes then that's $2000 divided by 20 checks for $100 per check so put $100 on line 6.
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Post by ac on Dec 11, 2021 19:38:29 GMT -5
Does anyone know if screening matters at the Daytona Beach clinic? I know it does not matter in Madison but it did years ago in Evansville.
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Post by ac on Oct 20, 2021 9:10:07 GMT -5
Yes, that is wrong. Obviously you can't deduct meals if you are being provided meals for free as part of your contract. I'm not convinced. The per diem rule is a very general rule. Some people spend $1000 for lunch, some spend $1.50. The irs decided it would make more sense to just estimate it. It's around $50 a day, slightly more complicated than that but that's how i estimate it. Feel free to point to a specific ruling on this point; I'm no tax expert. my main writeoffs are miles, per diems, any actual hotel or plane fare, tolls, 1/2 my internet bill, most years a cheap laptop. some professional dues and uing education expenses. Sounds like you could be in trouble if audited. Is half you internet use used looking for studies? If not then you can't claim 50% of your internet. My accountant said the IRS is cracking down on cell phone and internet deductions. If you would have them anyway then you can't claim them as a deduction. Same with the computer if it's not for 100% business use. What professional dues and education expenses could possibly be deductible for doing studies?
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Post by ac on Oct 19, 2021 7:25:17 GMT -5
Lol, I've been taking the standard deduction for meals for the nights that I spend in a clinic (as long as it's at least 50 miles from home, of course). Don't take my advice, I really don't know what I'm doing. But I'm asking is that wrong? Yes, that is wrong. Obviously you can't deduct meals if you are being provided meals for free as part of your contract.
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Post by ac on Oct 16, 2021 20:18:22 GMT -5
Looks like you understand things well. Better than most people who do studies for a living. In addition to mileage and accommodations you can also claim per diem. Every time you spend the night away from home for work(studies) you can claim per diem. That does not include nights you spend in-house in a clinic. Look it up to get more info on it. Make sure to keep a log of mileage including where you are going and why. If you get audited and don't have a log you will owe a lot in taxes and penalties. Keep receipts for hotels. Good luck.
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Post by ac on Aug 7, 2021 17:03:19 GMT -5
What clinic was this? I have never left a study after dosing so I probably wouldn't have left but I likely wouldn't go back to that clinic.
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Post by ac on Jun 3, 2021 17:20:45 GMT -5
when i was at spaulding in december, there was no gown stuff. it might have been a study specific thing. they did have a 100% food requirement. on the other hand, i don't have teeth, and i couldn't eat the apple they served at almost every meal, and i didn't get fined for it. so i would say, go to spaulding one last time, eat what you feel like, you may have your pay docked some, but you will make some money. whether they would ban you for that i don't know. spaulding is one of the few places i can still go, when they have a rare study in my age group. March 12th is when the new urine sample policy started. Don't know if it has changed since then. I was thinking I may go back for a big study if the urine sample policy is acceptable.Then I would not eat what I don't want to eat and if I get banned at least I will still have a decent last payday.
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Post by ac on May 31, 2021 8:22:34 GMT -5
Amazing. I have not done studies in each and every facility but I dare say it is rare that a clinic makes volunteers put on a gown among other volunteers for urine tests. All clinics I went to allow you to have your regular clothes on for tests and the physical. Since clinics are not very regulated by any agency I guess there is nothing "illegal" out-rightly about treating the volunteers like prisoners who have to strip in front of each other, but there is definitely some thing unethical and inappropriate. I have been in clinics that don't initially take privacy into consideration and sometimes do things like have you talk about your AE's in front of other volunteers but when I request to talk about them in a different room from other volunteers, the staff , however grudgingly, honor the request and talk with me in a secluded room because I say that my private medical information should not be heard by anyone who is not a medical staff member. But somehow regarding this part of Spauldings practices, if the right complaints reach the right people I think that this is some thing more legitimate than other complaints to bring up. After all keeping people barefoot on a floor that is not cleaned is a health hazard also putting volunteers to be nearly naked in front of each other is not what most clinics do. Whether anything is done or not may be another thing (not letting me post clinic name but Grayslake, IL clinic)also started requiring you to wear gowns for physicals but you were given two gowns and were allowed to keep your underwear and socks and shoes on. I haven't been there for a few years so don't know the current policy.
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Post by ac on May 31, 2021 8:19:15 GMT -5
Amazing. I have not done studies in each and every facility but I dare say it is rare that a clinic makes volunteers put on a gown among other volunteers for urine tests. All clinics I went to allow you to have your regular clothes on for tests and the physical. Since clinics are not very regulated by any agency I guess there is nothing "illegal" out-rightly about treating the volunteers like prisoners who have to strip in front of each other, but there is definitely some thing unethical and inappropriate. I have been in clinics that don't initially take privacy into consideration and sometimes do things like have you talk about your AE's in front of other volunteers but when I request to talk about them in a different room from other volunteers, the staff , however grudgingly, honor the request and talk with me in a secluded room because I say that my private medical information should not be heard by anyone who is not a medical staff member. But somehow regarding this part of Spauldings practices, if the right complaints reach the right people I think that this is some thing more legitimate than other complaints to bring up. After all keeping people barefoot on a floor that is not cleaned is a health hazard also putting volunteers to be nearly naked in front of each other is not what most clinics do. Whether anything is done or not may be another thing Sorry I wasn't more clear but you do get to undress in a private room one person at a time. You "just" have to walk naked with one small gown on in front of other people for the few feet from the changing room to the bathroom and back to the changing room. The barefoot part is the main reason I said no and withdrew from the study. I asked if they could inspect my socks and then let me put them back on but they said I had to be barefoot which is inexcuseable IMO. Maybe they have changed the policy since then since that was the first day of the new policy. However, the 100% food and the fact that they would ever think the barefoot and nearly naked thing is in any way ok is enough for me to find somewhere else to go even after doing over a dozen studies there over almost a decade.
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Post by ac on May 31, 2021 7:33:23 GMT -5
Seems like a mostly accurate article although things vary from clinic to clinic. Subjects definitely do break too many rules which have a negative effect on the studies. They smuggle stuff in, they do multiple studies at one time with too little gap between study drugs. They make too much noise keeping other subjects from sleeping which can cause inaccurate data for the study. Lots of things subjects do that they shouldn't. Also clinics do things they shouldn't. I have stopped going to Spaulding since they have mandatory 100% consumption of almost every meal for almost every study. They say it's sponsor ed but that is obviously a lie. Other clinics almost never have forced consumption of food except for the very rare case where a study actually does require a high fat breakfast of the study is actually designed to determine if food effects the way the drug works or impacts the body but those are rare and food should not be 100% required for most studies. I no longer go to those clinics that require it for no good reason. Spaulding also started to require people to get naked and put on a single small gown with no foot coverings to do urine tests. They want you to walk in front of all the other people wearing almost nothing and walk barefoot where everyone else walks barefoot including in the bathroom. No acceptable and I won't return until they change the policies. That is one example where clinics don't treat subject like humans. SO there is a lot that can be improved both from the clinics and the subjects. This article is not far off from reality.
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