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Post by ac on Sept 4, 2015 15:53:00 GMT -5
It looks like the Spaulding Board is gone so i'll try posting here. Has anyone done the Pilgrim study cohorts 1-4? I'm thinking about trying for cohort 5 but i'm not sure. They dose you with an injection in your stomach which i'm not looking forward to. Also, they say a side effect is an enlarged spleen. That sound much worse than any other AE i've had in 18 previous studies. Anyone done this study and care to share their experience?
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Post by ac on Sept 4, 2015 15:21:41 GMT -5
i only get in half the time i screen at places. abbie has lots of big money studies. i'd say keep screening there, unless it too far for you. i just got in at celerion, unless, as is likely they make me an alternate. i'e lost a lot of money screening there over the years. earlier this year i did a study at parexel, after not screening there the past 6 years because i used to never get in. (on the other hand i never got in to eli lilly after 3 tries then they shut down, which is when i looked up jalr and my life changed.) you have to weigh your time and travel costs against what you expect to make and what your other options are. you made it past screening 2 out of 3 times. i think your chances are good. they do use about 5 alternates per study, and they dont tell you you are an alternate till you get there. the trick is to screen on the first or second day of screening. if you screen on the last day you will probably be an alternate. The "trick" is to have good labs and vitals. The last 2 studies I did there I was 15th and 18th in check-in for studies that where only taking 12 people. I made it both times in one of the last couple spots. I passed the other people because of failed labs and/or vitals. I've screened on the 4th day of 7 and still gotten in. They take the healthiest people, not necessarily the first to screen. The problem I have with is that after you've done a few studies there then it's hard to get in again because you've already taken the compound they're testing and won't let you take it again. I called for 3 different studies in the last 4 months and they all included a compound I had already taken so I was excluded.
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Post by ac on Aug 10, 2015 9:11:07 GMT -5
I don't see what the big deal is. These are workers in a medical facility doing their job. It's not sexual harassment. If you're unwilling to be touched then you shouldn't be doing studies. I almost always have a female applying ECG tabs to me. I've had to drop my pants multiple times for a female doctor to do an exam. It's part of the job, ours and theirs.
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Post by ac on Jul 31, 2015 18:07:39 GMT -5
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Post by ac on Jul 31, 2015 18:00:51 GMT -5
Last year I earned $29600 gross and came up with enough deductions to get my AGI down to just over $20000. I had to pay around $4500 in FICA, Federal and State income taxes. I don't see any legal way you could pay nothing on $17000 of income. Even if you get your AGI down to $10000 or less that would only get you out of paying income tax. You would still owe FICA tax. From your reponse it sounds like you don't file as self-employed as I don't think you need to worry about FICA when you do this. If you go self-employed I think that you might have more ability to claim expenses. The biggest one is with the vehicle: it's pretty easy to rack up several thousand miles in a year doing studies; at 55 cents a mile this can really add up. I do file as self employed. That's why I have to pay FICA. If studies are your main source of income then you are required to file as self employed. If they are a minority of your income then you can just put it under "other income" on your 1040 or 1040A form. If you are self employed, you are required to file Schedule SE. www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sse.pdf
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BMI
Jul 29, 2015 11:27:20 GMT -5
Post by ac on Jul 29, 2015 11:27:20 GMT -5
If the recruiter asks for your height and weight on the phone and you tell them a weight that puts you over the bmi then they wouldn't let you screen but there's no reason you would ever do that. When you get to screening then you need to be down in weight so you don't exceed the max BMI. I have seen people get sent home at screening by being just .1 or .2 over the limit.
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Post by ac on Jul 29, 2015 8:49:29 GMT -5
I blew off doing my taxes a couple years ago, the IRS eventually sent me a letter nagging me about it. So I went and did the taxes, I don't remember whether I just did it by hand or with a program. My income was similar: roughly $17,000 from doing studies, I did what I always do, which is claim expenses to get my tax liability down to nothing or close to it, and I paid no fees or interest. With income this low, the IRS themselves are not expecting to get some huge pound of flesh out of you, they just want things complete and proper like; when you don't do your taxes a little red light pops up at IRS headquarters and stays on until you file. By the way, when I say that I get my liability down to nothing, I'm not saying I do anything wrong, I am following the rules and what I do is legal and reasonable. To be honest, if you make around 17 grand in a year doing studies ( which DOES have high expenses associated with it ), the IRS should not expect ( and I don't think they do ) for you to have any significant tax responsibilities. I think even $1500 is way more than someone in this position should have to pay. Last year I earned $29600 gross and came up with enough deductions to get my AGI down to just over $20000. I had to pay around $4500 in FICA, Federal and State income taxes. I don't see any legal way you could pay nothing on $17000 of income. Even if you get your AGI down to $10000 or less that would only get you out of paying income tax. You would still owe FICA tax.
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Post by ac on Jul 28, 2015 19:03:32 GMT -5
Thanks for your quick response. Yes I am single and no kids. I only did study that year and worked in two places I made about $300. I live in Texas and I don't think you need to file taxes. So I am looking at about $3000??? wow. Yes I did file for 2014. What do you mean you made $300? I thought you made $17500? Did you have income other than study income? That would make a difference since that money from a "normal" job would have taxes taken out so then you wouldn't owe nearly as much. You are right, Texas doesn't have state income tax.
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Post by ac on Jul 28, 2015 15:29:16 GMT -5
There are a lot of different factors that could affect it. Are you single or married? Do you have kids that you provided for? IS that $17,500 all from studies? I'll assume you are single with no kids. I'll assume your Adjusted gross income(AGI) is $17,500. If you had kept track of expenses and kept receipts then you could've reduced your taxable income. The personal exemption and standard deduction for a single person in 2013 was $10,000. So $7500 is taxable income. That is taxed at 10% so you owe $750 in Federal tax. They may make you pay FICA tax as well. That is about 15% of your total gross income of $17500. That's $2625 for FICA and $750 for Federal for a total of $3375. I'm not sure how it works exactly but you may only have to pay half of the FICA. Chances are that your state will come after you for unpaid taxes as well unless you live in a state that doesn't have income tax. You will likely also get a fine for not filing and interest on what you should've paid. Did you also not pay taxes in 2014?
You're looking at a minimum of $750 and possibly over $3K.
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Post by ac on Jul 1, 2015 20:42:12 GMT -5
You only got 1 hour of sleep because the person next to you was being loud all night? Why would you not go to the staff to put a stop to that? There is no excuse to be loud during the night.
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Post by ac on Jun 23, 2015 7:48:37 GMT -5
I keep my expenses low. All I have to do is make $20K a year from studies. That's maybe 5 or 6 studies. I "work" less than 100 days per year. If you're not happy with $20K/yr then it'll be much more difficult. If you live in an area where there are at least 2-3 clinics within a couple hundred miles of you then you shouldn't need to travel to the further away clinics thereby saving you money on travel. Somewhere near Austin, TX is probably the best place for a full time lab rat. Kansas City is good as well as anywhere in southern Wisconsin or northern Illinois. Just keep yourself healthy and don't spend too much money and you should have no problem living solely off of money from studies.
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Post by ac on Jun 10, 2015 20:04:03 GMT -5
The ones closest to me & I would like to go to are , Covance, Spaulding, Jasper Clinic & Prism Research. For all clinics you should bring shower shoes, closed toed shoes, underwear and socks for a week, toiletries, and soing to pass the time like a laptop/tablet or a couple books. Bring earbuds/headphones for any personal electronic device so you don't bother others(this is a must). For toiletries, make sure your toothpaste doesn't have whitening. Make sure your shampoo doesn't have vitamins. Nothing with alcohol. you only need a t-shirt on check in and check out, the rest of the time you're in scrubs. Covance and Spaulding you should bring enough t-shirts for a week then do laundry if your in house longer than that. Always bring a hoodie that zips(even at ) as it tends to get chilly in the clinics year-round. allows you to bring your own bedding, Covance does not. Which places are better than other? That is very much subject to opinion. Jasper and generally pay less than Covance and Spaulding. makes up for it with the best amenities. is my favorite clinic but Covance pays more and is closer so I do most of my studies there. Hope this helps some. Good luck.
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Post by ac on May 29, 2015 12:06:14 GMT -5
"Also, Covance has it in writing that the bedroom is for quiet and you need to be quiet if asked even if it's not quiet hours. More needs to be done and hopefully it will be." agree wholeheartedly with these comments, but keep in mind that asking that the quiet rule be enforced at covance is what got me banned there. meanwhile, i check in at parexel in a few days. How could that get you banned? I've gone to the staff about loud participants multiple times and they did their job. One time they where a little slow and didn't do enough but they still did soing and it certainly didn't affect me in a bad way.
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Post by ac on May 29, 2015 7:57:02 GMT -5
They called me too. They have bunk beds and the person on the phone could barely speak English so I hung up.
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Post by ac on May 27, 2015 13:00:16 GMT -5
I also think it's unacceptable to not use earbuds/headphones ANYWHERE in a clinic. I just don't say anything unless it's in the bedroom or designated quiet room. I agree that it should be disallowed, in writing, everywhere inside a clinic at all times. It is "on the books" if it's being done in a quiet room/library like at . Also, Covance has it in writing that the bedroom is for quiet and you need to be quiet if asked even if it's not quiet hours. More needs to be done and hopefully it will be.
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