Ethics of AIDS Research - The Condom Ladies

Philadelphia Citpaper runs an article about the ethical potholes confronting U Penn's AIDS Vaccine trial. problem is that to test the efficacy of an AIDS vaccine, you need an 'at-risk' population. Paying them to participate in the trial may facilitate risky behavior and providing counselling to participants bias the outcome of the research. Great piece - the writer avoids the sort of strident angry tone (that would have been de rigeur for a similar article in Philadelphia Weekly) and teases out the moral conundrums by allowing individuals involved to speak for themselves.
Science and Human Nature

Their search often begins with a tip from a participant in a previous study, something like, 'When I turn tricks, I go to intersection X.' The scouts will go to the intersection, dig through the trash and walk around in search of telltale signs. Because they're so conspicuous (both are white), they assume the identities of outreach workers, carrying and distributing condoms.

'The outreach model is recognizable,' says Alex. 'It's a way to explain two white girls, and an ethical imperative.'

'We think of the condoms like our calling card,' Freeman adds.

The condom ladies gather as much information as they can about each area. Learning the price for oral sex, for example (anywhere from $3 to $60), gives them a sense of the local economy, which helps Penn determine the rate of compensation for study participants (Penn doesn't want pay to be inadequate, the scouts say, but it also doesn't want the compensation to be 'coercive' — so high that people can't afford to turn it down).