I received a phone call from Palm Beach Research Center asking for my help in a study of migraine headaches. I have suffered with migraines since the age of five, so it piqued my interest.
I spoke with the friendly caller for about 15 minutes. She outlined the study. She said it would involve me keeping a headache diary for about a month. She asked about my migraine headache history. I gave it to her in precise detail. I told her that my migraines are virtually gone because I am on a medication patch called Butrans, which alleviates my pain almost completely. My very kind doctor, tried various approaches to rid me of my daily migraines and finally came up with the idea to try the Butrans patch. It was a brilliant idea that changed my life dramatically. I no longer suffer every day of my life with horrible migraine headaches. I have been on it for about 4 years.
I told all of this to the caller from Palm Beach Research Center. She said I would qualify for the study and after speaking to a colleague, she made an appointment for me to come in a few days later. She said I would receive $450.00 for participating in the study. I was quite eager to help other migraine sufferers by having them hear my story that has had a happy ending.
I drove from my home in Boca Raton to their office in Palm Beach and filled out some exhaustive medical forms that the receptionist gave me. One of the forms showed how much I was to be paid per week with a $100.00 payment at the end. It would be a total of $450.00.
I was called into the back of the office a few minutes later by a nurse named Mary. She was very nice and friendly. We went over my headache story once again. She then excused herself and brought in a doctor. The doctor asked me several questions about my migraines and told me that I wouldn't qualify for the study because my migraine headaches are being taken care of. I asked the nurse, Mary, if I would be paid for that day, being that I had devoted a great deal of time and effort to this and I had been promised $450.00 to participate in the study. The first day's payment should have been $50.00, according to the form. She just said no, I wasn't accepted into the study, so I wasn't due anything. Good-Bye.
This was a very unprofessional, irritating experience. I wasted half a day and a lot of gas going to Palm Beach to hear that I didn't qualify. I feel that I should have gotten paid for one day of the study at the very least. I wouldn't recommend anyone getting involved with Palm Beach Research Center. read more