Your Poop Could Save Lives, And You Could Get Paid For It
A growing demand for fecal donations is creating a unique financial opportunity, with stool banks now offering up to $1,500 a month to qualified donors as the medical field increasingly recognizes the life-saving potential of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT).
For years, the idea of donating stool was largely confined to research settings. However, with the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections and a deeper understanding of the gut microbiome’s impact on overall health, the need for healthy fecal matter has surged. This demand is driven by the effectiveness of FMT in treating conditions like recurrent C. difficile infection, a debilitating and sometimes fatal illness.
As demand for fecal donations rises, stool banks are offering compensation for qualified donors. Some programs,like GoodNature,offer up to $1,500 a month for regular stool donations.
While that might seem like a strange way to earn a paycheck, it’s becoming more common as the medical field recognizes the importance of these donations. As Dr. Kaakoush puts it:
“It is indeed likely your donation will treat someone with recurrent C.difficile infection. Otherwise, it would be used in a clinical trial or study to treat another significant medical condition.”
The FDA has already approved two commercial FMT products-Rebyota and Vowst-both designed to reduce recurrence of C. difficile infections. The success rates for these treatments are extraordinary, with Rebyota showing a 70.6% success rate compared to 57.5% with a placebo. Meanwhile, Vowst helped reduce recurrence in high-risk patients to just 12.4%.
“We’re a long way from replicating the entire gut microbial community in the lab. So we have to rely on live microbial products made from donated poo as research moves from the laboratory bench to the clinic,” Dr. Kaakoush concluded.
