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Volunteers Wanted

Who volunteers to test a new product that's supposed to block HIV transmission?

Two major studies of a vaginal gel being tested as a substance to block HIV transmission were halted Wednesday after early results from one of them appeared to show that the women who used it had higher infection rates than those who were given a placebo.
...
Monitors found that 35 women had already become HIV-positive since enrollment began in July 2005, and the majority of them were getting the actual microbicide, cellulose sulfate, instead of an inert placebo gel.

If they're doing clinical trials of it, that means they don't know yet if it works. This is not like testing a deodorant or an acne cream. If it fails, you have HIV. And if, like in this case, it actually facilitates infection, you're totally screwed.

The response from the scientists:

The results were "unexpected and disappointing,'' said Dr. Lut Van Damme of the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va., the principal investigator in the study.

Not as disappointing as finding out you are now HIV positive.

The trials were conducted in Africa and India. Perhaps the payment offered to volunteers outweighed their self-preservation instinct.

By min | February 1, 2007, 12:05 PM | Science