Paying Participants in COVID-19 Trials

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Trials are in development and underway to examine potential interventions for treatment and prophylaxis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). How should we think about offering payment to participants in these trials? Payment for research participation is ethically contentious even under ideal circumstances. Here, we review 3 functions of research payment—reimbursement, compensation, and incentive—and identify heightened and novel ethical concerns in the context of a global pandemic. We argue that COVID-19 trial participants should usually be offered reimbursement for research-related expenses, and compensation for their time and effort, as for other types of research under usual circumstances. Given increased risk of undue influence against pandemic background conditions, incentive payment should be avoided unless essential to recruitment and retention in important trials whose social value outweighs this risk. Where essential, however, incentives can be ethically permissible, so long as reasonable efforts are made to minimize the possibility of undue influence.</jats:p>

Promoting Ethical Payment in Human Infection Challenge Studies

“…Although some do identify offers of reimbursement and compensation as logistically necessary for them to be able to participate, they do not appear to be motivated by money and express a desire to avoid any type of payment that could compromise the science (e.g., by inducing deception amongst participants). Based on these limited insights, concerns about poor or distorted judgment resulting from offers of payment seem even lower in this context than they might be for other research, despite the financial challenges that have hit many people in the wake of the pandemic (Largent and Lynch 2020). Apart from payment, however, we note that the zeal with which prospective SARS-CoV-2 HICS participants hope to enroll on altruistic grounds may call for the sorts of consent protections typically associated with offers of payment, especially to help make sure that these individuals have a realistic understanding of the likelihood of these studies to dramatically influence the course of the pandemic .…”

Data Collection in Times of Pandemic: A Self-Study and Revisit of Research Practices During a Crisis

“…Paying participant or research compensation is a controversial practice usually strongly discouraged by the Research Ethics committee ( Head, 2009 ; Surmiak, 2020 ; Tyldum, 2012 ; Zutlevics, 2016 ) for fear of undue influence. Undue influence is high enough payment ( Largent & Lynch, 2017 ) that “induce prospective participants who otherwise would not enrol to enter studies in which there might be significant risks. The worry is that people with limited resources are more susceptible to inducements to act against their own best interests, or that, worse, they could be targeted for recruitment because they are easier to influence with smaller sums of money” ( E. P. Williams & Walter, 2015 , p. 1117).…”

Analysis of Consumer Awareness of Neuromarketing

“… EEG -Electroencephalography -a tool for measuring brain activity through electrodes placed on the respondent's head [25].  Eye-tracking -this is a measurement of visual attention, which can map a person's view and level of excitement in response to a stimulus [18].  GSR -Galvanic skin response -represents a physiological response of the level of arousal to any given stimuli [22].…”