Maruta. It means logs in Japanese. In general, many people know Maruta means subjects who were sacrificed in human trials by Unit 731, which developed biological weapons in the Second World War. The Japanese military officers named the living-body tests as Maruta tests because they saw the human bodies as logs. Maruta, which has a history of sadness, has recently surfaced again as a maruta part-time job, which means human experimentation.
  Maruta part-time jobs include many kinds of human experimentation such as new drug tests and bioequivalence tests. People often call Maruta part-time jobs as bioequivalence test part-time jobs. When the patent period of a medicine has passed, other pharmaceutical companies can sell generic versions of the drugs. Bioequivalence tests confirm that generic versions of the drugs have the same absorption in the body as existing drugs.
  Bioequivalence test part-time jobs exist because of getting big profits in a short time. Its average profits are from 600,000 won to 800,000 won. If it takes longer, the part-time wages increase. During the experiment, subjects usually are in a hospital. According to the Korean Food and Drugs Administration, the cases of approvals of bioequivalence tests have decreased because of joint development approvals. However, it doesn’t mean a decrease in bioequivalence tests’ subjects, but willing subjects have rather increased in human drug trials.
  Actually, most students have negative thoughts about clinical trials with humans. Shim Yo-han(’15, Dept. of International Business) said, “I think the part-time job is negative. It is a good aspect of getting high profits, but I’m worried about the side effects such as disease. I won’t join the test if I don’t desperately need some money.” Jung Gyu-su(’15, Dept. of Fine Arts) said, “If the test is dangerous, I will never join it, but I think the drug trials are  just one kind of human testing. I’m neutral.” Park Ji-su(’15, Dept. of International Business) said, “I’m positive about the part-time jobs. Its big merit is getting money easily. I usually fall short of money, so I might consider it. Of course, it has side effects, but bioequivalence tests are low-risk tests.”
  Many people consider the part-time jobs easily because the ingredients of the test medicines are the same as existing medicines, but the tests have side effects like high blood pressure, forgetfulness, skin eruption and even dementia. At worst, the tests’ subjects can die. The lighter side effects aren’t reported to the Korean Food and Drugs Administration. Actually, from 2011 to 2013, 476 subjects had big side effects and 49 subjects died.
  Anyone who tries the part-time jobs must be concerned about safety. Subjects should read consent forms fully and understand what the test is. Subjects can question about the test and stop it in the middle of test. The people in charge of the test should explain it fully. The Korean Food and Drugs Administration must monitor that the test isn’t illegal and that it follows the rules.

By Woo Hyun-gi
hg36@cbnu.ac.kr