Drug Habit Lures Guinea Pigs From College for Tests

Two Boston hospitals are winding up series of experiments in which they have paid College students to take as many as ten different drugs for $50.

Massachusetts General Hospital has put 30 students through over half its test. Five men go to the anaesthesia wing at 6:30 a.m. one day a week to get an injection. They sit quietly for five hours while nurses take their pulse and temperature periodically. The experiment lasts five weeks.

One subject has felt drowsy, gotten a "slight buzz," and been "just bored" after the first three injections. Another has been sick every time. The subjects disagree as to whether it is worth $50, but they fell they are making a "contribution to science."

More Rigorous Test

At Peter Bent Brigham, a more rigorous test is in progress. The student subjects report ten different days for injections at the same $50 rate. On their next visit, they describe the effects of the drug, whose name they are not told.

Other students are used only once. They are injected with novocaine and told to disrobe. At intervals experts test nerve reactions and blood from various parts of their bodies.

After about one and one-half hours, they are dismissed and paid ten cents for every minute they have spent in the hospital.

The hospital will publish a report on its findings "as soon as we get a few more guinea pigs," a spokesman said yesterday.

Persons in good physical health who are interested in applying for the guinea pig job may do so at the Employment Office in Weld Hall.