Rosa Bravo, 51, has participated in eight clinical trials in Miami and been paid anywhere from $720 to $3,500. (Oscar Durand/NYT INSTITUTE)

By WILMA HERNANDEZ

Rosa Bravo does not mind being poked and prodded in the name of medical science. For years she has taken part in clinical trials, supplementing her income by helping to test medicines developed by drug companies.

Not long ago, she said, it was easier for her to make money this way. There was less competition for participants; she simply walked into a clinic, passed the screening tests and lent herself to science, receiving payment for her time and trouble.

But in recent months, Bravo, 51, a veteran of eight clinical trials in Miami, has found it harder to find a spot. The trials, for which she has been paid $720 to $3,500, now have waiting lists, she said.

“Now you get there and they have about 100 people for a study that only needs, let’s say, 50 or 60 people,” said Bravo, a Miami resident. “I’ve been lucky that I’ve always qualified, but since this past year people are after those studies like crazy.”

For decades, pharmaceutical companies have hired research firms to test products. In Miami, strong word of mouth and increased advertising are drawing more people to clinics, and some say money is the main reason.

Among the many people applying for trials in Miami last week, several said they were driven by financial concerns.

And in a 2008 national survey conducted for the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation, a nonprofit focused on educating and informing the public about clinical research, respondents said money would be their first reason for taking part in a trial.

Bravo said she tries to pick the longest trials because they pay more. She earned $3,500 for a 16-day cholesterol study, more than what she says she makes in a month as a janitor. Sometimes she had to spend the night at the clinic.

“You make money per every night you are there and per follow-up visit,” she said. “Everything has a price.”

A physical education coach in her native Cuba, Bravo said she would be a “professional study participant” if she could find a spot every month. “It would be a great job to do and an honest way to make money,” she said.

An official of one company with a clinic in Miami acknowledged that many people applied for the studies as a way to make money.

“As much as we say that it is done for altruistic reasons, like to better humankind, at the end of the day people are doing it for remuneration,” said Peter Heessels, senior director of business development for Cetero Research, a private company that has 24 years of experience in medical research, according to its Web site.

Some of those who apply for clinical trials say they realize there are risks.

A 25-year-old woman who tried last Monday to enlist in a study testing a generic, better-tasting type of the drug Motrin said she recently took part in a study on depression but was removed because her glucose level rose too high.

The woman, who asked that her name be withheld, said she was unemployed and needed to support her 6-month-old son, but added that if she had a job, she would not volunteer for trials.

Another woman, 21, said she had taken part in several studies and admitted she does not tell the people conducting the studies that she is epileptic.

The woman, who also asked that her name not be used, said that she once had to be taken to the hospital while having a seizure, but that she continues to take part in the trials because she has three children to support and cannot find a job. She has earned about $2,000 in two studies and is now part of one that pays about $3,500, she said.

Research clinics are required to report serious reactions to institutional review boards, independent ethics committees that review and approve studies before they are financed. The boards are overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Although the review boards have the authority to stop studies when serious reactions, like heart palpitations or an increase in blood pressure, occur, they do not dictate what types of screening tests candidates should undergo, said Robert Bigge, a member of the local review board that oversees Cetero Research.

While the HHS regulates medical studies sponsored by the government, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates privately financed ones, public and private institutions are under similar scrutiny, according to Patricia El-Hinnawy, a spokeswoman for the Office for Human Research Protection, which is part of HHS.

Researchers are not required to provide medical insurance for the participants, El-Hinnawy said. Furthermore, there is no national standard to follow when unexpected reactions occur, because the local research institutions set those guidelines, she said.

However, the medical staff is expected to treat side effects or serious reactions, and companies are required to report such episodes to their local review board, she said.

Bravo is one participant who knows the risks. But because she is healthy, she said, she is not worried about future problems. In fact, although she has a job now, she said that if she were ever without one again, she would be back in line for clinical trials.

“If I’m ever in need,” she said, “I’ll be there by dawn.”