Class Action Accuses Staywell Research of Not Paying Subjects

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A class action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against California research company Medicus Research LLC alleging that the company did not pay study participants as agreed when they entered various research projects.

Lead plaintiff Francesca Gallard alleges in the class action lawsuit that Medicus, operating as Staywell Research, agreed to pay her $1,000 for participating in a weight loss study that involved taking a weight loss powder and multiple visits to the doctor’s office in July of 2013.

“Plaintiff was required to appear at Defendant’s place of business twice each month, with each visit lasting approximately two to three hours,” the class action lawsuit alleges. “During the visits, Plaintiff was weighed, asked a series of questions regarding her study participation, and would drop off used weight loss powder containers in exchange for the next dose of weight loss powder.” However, Staywell has not paid her and refuses to send a copy of the contract she signed with them, according to the class action lawsuit.

Gallard alleges that Staywell and the lead researcher on the study, Dr. Sanjay K. Udani, have refused to pay and created other barriers to payment for thousands of other California research participants. Twenty complaints have been filed against Staywell with the Business Consumer Alliance and a Facebook page dedicated to getting Staywell to pay participants has been set up, according to the class action lawsuit. Additionally, Staywell “direct[s] complaints from participants seeking owed compensation to a call center, which is rarely answered,” the class action lawsuit alleges. Further, Staywell allegedly “instruct[s] representatives working the call center to not provide callers with information regarding compensation.”

In addition to failing to pay research participants as contracted, the class action lawsuit also alleges that Staywell violated the California Protection of Human Subjects in Medical Experimentation Act by not obtaining proper informed consent. Gallard argues that the research participants would not have agreed to take part in the study if Staywell had not promised to provide compensation.

“Medical breakthroughs truly owe their existence to the human subjects who volunteer for studies,” says Gallard in the Staywell class action lawsuit. “The need to perform medical studies on humans, however, must be balanced against the need for protection of the individual who is to serve as the subject,” she continues.

“One safeguard … is the requirement that informed consent be properly obtained by the prospective subject prior to the initiation of their participation in any clinical study,” the Staywell class action lawsuit says. “Obtaning informed consent involves informing the subject about his or her rights, the purpose of the study, procedures to be undergone, potential known risks, and benefits of participation, including if payment is to be received.”

Gallard is represented by Gillian L. Wade and Allison K. Willett of Milstein Adelman LLP and Kenneth J. Grunfeld of Golomb & Honik PC.

The Staywell Class Action Lawsuit is Gallard, et al. v. Medicus Research LLC, et al., Case No. BC571558, in the Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles County.