In May, a drug company called BioCorRx began offering free Naltrexone implants, a slow-release drug that reduces opioid cravings, to incarcerated people. The first prisoner underwent the surgical procedure at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, a former cotton plantation. Although Naltrexone in the form of daily oral pills or monthly injections is FDA-approved, the longer-lasting implants are not. And according to the consent forms, BioCorRx and the Louisiana Department of Corrections failed to disclose to prisoners that they would be receiving an unapproved implant.

Advocates and medical professionals sounded an alarm. “Are we somehow finding a way to experiment with pharmaceuticals in a prison setting?” said Anjali Niyogi, director of the Formerly Incarcerated Transitions Clinic in New Orleans.

BioCorRx insists this was not a clinical trial but a program to help incarcerated people stay clean after their release. The dissolvable Naltrexone pellet, which is surgically implanted in the lower abdomen, can block opioid effects for three months. But the language in the company’s agreement with the Louisiana Department of Corrections resembles that of a clinical trial. According to the agreement, which was retrieved through a public records request, BioCorRx intended to “demonstrate the effectiveness” of the implants.

The company’s spokesperson also confirmed to me in an email that BioCorRx “is working with a government agency to demonstrate its cost-effectiveness and success rate over other methods of medication-assisted treatment ...” This, by definition, is a research study. And it is illegal to conduct a study with human subjects without oversight.

“Especially with a vulnerable population like prisoners, there are special rules governing when you can try novel interventions with them,” said Arthur Caplan, the director of NYU Langone Health’s Division of Medical Ethics. “It’s a part of the law governing human experimentation.”