on Oct 1st, 2007Hospice Patients Now Function as Pharmaceutical Lab Rats
When death is just around the cemetery door it doesn’t really matter how much money you might have, or how big your house is, or whether you know important people. All that matters is your health. Those who wind up in a hospice are discovering that their desperate need to stay alive is fertile ground for pharmaceutical companies looking to test new drugs that might offer hope in treating a yucky disease.
I guess if you’re faced with try it or die, most people would say yes, I’ll be your lab rat. It’s kind of a creepy position to be in, though. Porter Storey, executive vice president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, comments: “People are really vulnerable when they’re coming to the end of their life. They’re willing to sign up for anything.” Damn right, Peter!
Maybe you just might be better off playing the lottery, at least that way you can leave your grandkids something if you die besides a wasted body.