BACKGROUND: I?m a research assistant at a private-practice neurology
facility that conducts clinical research trials.  My question is
regarding one of our studies and how I might proceed with my task.

We?re conducting a long-term follow-up study of a cohort of subjects
in a landmark study that resulted in the first-ever FDA approved drug
for multiple sclerosis (the results of that study can be found the
50th anniversary reprint edition of Neurology v57 n12 supplement 5,
2001).

All of the original investigators involved have been invited to
participate in the follow-up.  I don?t know how the other
investigators are locating their subjects, but we have successfully
reached 15 of the 25 study volunteers (these are subjects whose
addresses and/or phone numbers had not changed, along with subjects
that I found using DexOnline.com).

MY QUESTION: I?ve come across dozens of websites claiming that, for a
fee, they will find any person you are trying to locate.  Are these
sites for real (legitimate)?  Which site should I try?  Is this a bad
idea?  The pharmaceutical sponsor doesn?t seem to have a problem with
it; in fact, they?ve proposed to pay for a private investigator.

CAVEAT: ?Google Answers: Help & Tips? has instructions to refrain from
asking certain questions, specifically, to request private information
about individuals.  I?m not sure whether my question is a ?no-no? -my
apologies if I?ve asked for such.

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Clarification of Question by nnscr-ga on 01 Mar 2005 06:18 PST

Regarding what sort of information I have about ALL of the study
participants: social security number; address during their
participation/when last seen by the physician; and birth date.

I don't have the patient charts -only a computer generated list.
Obtaining the charts to review original intake sheets is feasible (to
look for employers, emergency contact, etc.) is feasible, but more
difficult.

Given the information that I DO have, what are odds looking like now?
Is an internet search/site a good option?  If a private investigator
is the best bet (my boss prefers internet) can I post another question
as to which one in my area is the best (not referencing my current
question)?

I appreciate the tips! I am able to increase the list price/or tip
commensurate to the time and effort involved. Thanks.

I recommend you call a private investigator.  They are familiar with
what works and trained to find missing people.  You will save time and
money in the long run.  Also, the classmates web site is a good source
for finding people.

This answer to an earlier "people-finding" question contains some
material that you may find quite useful:

http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=323313

I have recently cleared this up with the editors. We are permitted to
tell you HOW to find people, just not to find them ourselves.

As for your specific question, I operate a research business of my own
but ethically I can't promote that here so I haven't tried the other
sites.

Some are completely legitimate, others aren't or simply aren't very good.

A possible complication here is that you are referring to medical
records, at least indirectly. There are special rules regarding
medical records.

Since you have the go ahead to pay for a PI firm I would try the
largest and oldest such firm in your area rather than an online
service.

To provide more specific help we would probably need to know what sort
of information you have about the study participants, e.g. SS#, former
address, etc. (not the info itself, just the kind of info) If you have
that sort of information, especially an employer of the person or a
parent, a skip trace company might be the cheapest alternative since
they probably aren't actively hiding.

Good luck.