I started working on this story as a 21-year-old IJB intern who knew nothing about clinical trials other than the ads I saw on the subway on my way to class.
I’d be lying if I said I was never tempted by the cash offered for what seemed like an innocuous sacrifice of my body in the service of science.
In the end, I never took a pill for money. But through working on this investigation I was pulled into this deeply complex world, fraught with ethical dilemmas, and potentially harmful real-world implications, where the stakes for both participants and the broader public were far higher than I had ever anticipated.
Our team of reporters gained the trust of more than a dozen participants who relied on the trials for income, some of whom put their livelihoods on the line speaking with us. We spent hours reviewing inspection data and documents that no one else had bothered to look at. We spoke to experts who have been trying to raise the alarm about problems in the system for decades.
What we found was deeply concerning. For-profit research companies are using exploitative incentives that attract often impoverished and marginalized people who then feel forced to lie to secure an income, potentially tainting data used to approve drugs.
The key function of our healthcare system is providing access to safe drugs, a promise that depends heavily on clinical trial data. Gathering that data often requires vulnerable participants, such as our main source, Franco, who put himself at risk for financial gain and ended up in the emergency room due to organ damage, feeling abandoned by researchers.
We were able to tell this story on two fronts – first as an article in the Toronto Star and also as a feature documentary for the CBC, for which we partnered with Emmy award-winning director Habiba Nosheen. Bodies for Rent is available on demand on CBC Gem.
This story had been waiting to be told in our country. I’m grateful to be a part of the team bringing it to light.
Masih Khalatbari
Reporter
Behind the Reporting: Pulling the curtain back on Canada’s private clinical trial industry took more than two years of reporting, writing, data analysis and fact-checking. Collectively, reporters Max Binks-Collier, Masih Khalatbari, Charlie Buckley and Rob Cribb examined more than 50 ads from clinical research organizations and interviewed 14 clinical trial participants who we mostly found via Facebook and Google Reviews. They reviewed videos, photos, dozens of consent forms, and other documents participants shared from their trials. Additionally, they analyzed clinical trial inspection data from Health Canada and the FDA and examined academic studies and publications from researchers who have been flagging concerns for decades.