Today I spoke to a rider who identified his occupation as a Professional Lab Rat. He has been doing this gig for ten years. The first four years he did it while at his home, the last six years he’s been traveling and hiking around the country. He has been in forty seven states. He currently resides in New York with a friend. I was driving him to the bus station so he can take the bus from Baltimore there.
He is in Baltimore for drug experiment with a famous company that last for a three months. He takes a six days vocation every two weeks. At the end of this experiment he will get paid thirteen thousand dollars. He usually get paid around this amount in every drug test experiment. “It’s a good paying gig” he said. I asked if he would volunteer for COVID-19 vaccine. He said vaccines are not worth it, it last two years and they pay only two thousand and they can be very dangerous.
He participated in about a hundred experiment as he said. He only had side effects in three. He usually reads the contract especially the side effects list before he signs. Not all participants read this list, he says. I asked if he didn’t sign a a contract because of this list he said never! I asked what is the most strange side effect he read on a list he said death! And signed that one too! He will be treated of the side effects of the drug on the company’s cost, but he doesn’t have a health insurance, so he wouldn’t get treated if he gets sick a month after the end of an experiment.
His three side effects are as follows. First was a swollen in the right testicle from a heart burn drug! The second was hair loss that wasn’t mentioned on the side effects list! His lawyer said it’s not worth sawing them for it because your hair will grow again. The third was a psychotic episode from a new sleeping pills that never came out to the market. During this last test they would put ice on their eyes to prevent them from sleeping to see how much they can hold to measure how effective their drug is!
He said program participants should be healthy, they’re not suppose to be using any recreational drugs, but sometimes it happens. I asked what he has in common with other participants other than doing drugs? He said they’re all adventurers. He is currently in a group of nine participants and there are a other groups. I asked where do you find these gigs? He said on a website called Just Another Lab Rat jalr.org.
ABZU 