[pseudo-justin]

close, but not quite

well, the consent of the subject is necessary for experimentation to be morally permissible, but consent is not sufficient. For an individual to consent to an act of self-mutilation, or to deliberately expose oneself to a potentially fatal disease, is also wrong by virtue of the object of the act to which the subject consents..

OK, so nobody is being forced to get herpes, we are only asking you to ask for it, and we are only taking those who need the money bad enough!

As you say, not quite the same, but close enough to be damnable nonetheless.

[ninenot]

I would add that the principal moral actor here is SLU. They are the ones who have a moral restriction--they may not "do harm."

As to the self-selected subjects--they are secondary actors and, yes, NOT allowed to self-mutilate.