Guinea Pig Zero: An Anthology of the Journal for Human Research Subjects » (1ST)

From first person accounts of pharmaceutical studies gone bad to intricate medical histories, Guinea Pig Zero provides a fascinating look at the people who sell their bodies to science. While the book provides advice to present-day research subjects (by rating research clinics), the book also provides context by investigating the history and ethics behind this important, but little-known medical industry.

Publishers Weekly

In 1996, freelance lab rat and activist Robert Helms, under the nom de plume Guinea Pig Zero, began to publish a zine with the same name; in Guinea Pig Zero: An Anthology of the Journal for Human Research Subjects, he gathers together a few dozen contributions (many of which he penned) exploring "this dark little corner of modern science from the subject's own viewpoint." From Donno's tale of going bonkers in a sleep-deprivation study, to Beth Lavoie's discussion of the various poisons to which soldiers in the Gulf War were exposed, to Helms's history of a 1935 test subject strike, these are strange and frightening stories that may make our trust in the medical establishment seem na ve. (July) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.