Cash for poo clogs system

A Paris hospital which made a public appeal for stool samples for a study on intestinal diseases said Friday it had suspended the project after being inundated by donors hoping for an easy €50 (R785).

“We had to cancel the call for donors and halt the study because it had gotten out of control,” professor Harry Sokol, the gastroenterologist leading the study at the Saint-Antoine hospital, told AFP.

Originally donors were sought via posters at the hospital and at medical schools, offering compensation of €50 if accepted.

“Someone took a picture and it spread rapidly on the internet and social media, because the message had been altered: People thought it meant: Give us your stools, we’ll give you €50,” Sokol said. – AFP