Nexus - 0802 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Animal experimentation is the quickest way of getting a new giving far more accurate results when studying disease on the drug onto the market. Researchers given grant money by pharma- microscopic level at which it occurs. ceutical companies are far more likely to come out with a positive Autopsies and epidemiology are other key areas of research, review of the drug than those who are not receiving financial sup- with technology today allowing thousands of patients at multiple port. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported institutions to be tracked. Ray and Jean Greek point out that epi- that 43 per cent of more than 2,000 researchers surveyed at the demiological studies discovered the link between folic acid defi- top 50 research universities said they had received gifts, including ciency and spina bifida. Epidemiological studies also showed the cash, even when the giver required prior approval of the results of — cause/effect relationship between smoking and cancer, cancer and the research being conducted.” diet, heart disease and cholesterol, coal dust and black lung dis- Even charities are not exempt from the profit-making loop. ease, smoking and heart disease, among many other diseases. It Many of them—such as the American Institute for Cancer was epidemiology that proved the link between smoking and lung Research, the American Diabetes Association and the American disease, despite the tobacco industry arguing for years that this Heart Association, and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and was not the case because animal-based models said so. the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in the UK—fund or carry out Experimenters had tried unsuccessfully for more than half a cen- animal-based research. Out of a total income of £56 million in tury to give animals cancer with tobacco smoke. They reasoned 1998, the BHF spent £34.9 million on research, with only £5.1 that since animals do not get cancer from tobacco, there is no million going into educational programs. In one test, dogs' chests proof that it causes cancer. The tobacco industry even paid doc- were cut open and their blood was circulated out of their bodies tors in the 1950s and 1960s to advertise cigarettes. and back again in order to allow blood pressure to change quickly Breast cancer is an area that has benefited from mathematical in the neck arteries. The experimenters then came to the conclu- modelling where computers simulate parts of the human body. sion that a person bending down and suddenly standing up could _ This is a relatively new area of research, as is computer-assisted experience dizziness and fainting.™ research where molecules can be studied on screen using comput- Animal testing also provides pharmaceutical firms with a er graphics which mimic the body's systems. weapon to protect themselves from The Dr Hadwen Trust is a UK- being sued by people who have been based charity established to come up damaged by their products. In with alternative research techniques. Europe, all medications when they It funded the development of a new reach the final product stage are brain-scanning technique for studying legally required to be tested on ani- . . . . vision, which replaced the need for mals for carcinogenicity and birth Animal experimentation IS invasive experiments on cats and led defects. But, explains Wendy i i to a revolution in the understanding of Higgins, campaigns director of the the quickest way of getting the human brain with untold potential British Union for the Abolition of anew drug onto the market. The Trust also funded a pioneering Vivisection, this is not the case in the developmental stages of a drug, which is where most animal testing goes on. 3D computer model of human teeth which is used to predict the results of corrective dental procedures such as braces. The situation in the United States These alternatives are not prohibi- is similar. According to Dr Ray tively expensive, either. Many are in Greek: "Most pharmaceutical firms do more testing than the gov- fact cheaper than using animals. An initial cost of implementing ernment requires, so they can say in court that they saw no effects new procedures would have to be incurred, but the long-term sav- like the one that killed the plaintiff's wife. Officials will tell you ings would justify the investment. off the record that they rely on animal testing and think that it is a big factor in protection from lawsuits." Or, the companies can MORAL, ETHICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONCERNS turn around and dismiss the animal tests as being unreliable in lhe moral and ethical objections to vivisection will continue to humans. Either way, it is extremely hard for victims to take legal rage on. If you are not interested in "animal rights", the use of action against them. in experiments will probably not bother you. But the + thi Animal experimentation is the quickest way of getting a new drug onto the market. MORAL, ETHICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONCERNS lhe moral and ethical objections to vivisection will continue to rage on. If you are not interested in "animal rights", the use of animals in experiments will probably not bother you. But the sci- entific evidence against this practice should worry every single one of us who cares about our health. Anyone who is yet to be convinced should take note of the sec- tion in Ray and Jean Greeks' book which outlines the results of a 1998 survey conducted by the Public Citizens' Health Research Group (PCHRG) in the United States. In the survey, 19 medical officers at the FDA said that 27 new drugs approved by the agency in the past three years should not have been. "Dr Sidney Wolfe, Director of the PCHRG, said that standards are going down because the agency has been under pressure from Congress to approve products more quickly. Of 172 officers interviewed, eight said there were 14 instances in the past three years where they had been told not to present their opinion to an advisory committee if it would reduce the likelihood of a drug's ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMAL-BASED RESEARCH eal developments always arise from a human-modelled foun- dation, Ray and Jean Greek assert. The potent painkiller morphine, for example, is extracted from poppy flowers. Quinine, used to treat malaria, comes from cinchona bark. Aspirin, the most widely used medication in the world, was first prescribed by Hippocrates in the form of willow bark. None of these owes anything to animal experiments. Clinical studies of patients and good old-fashioned observation have led to the successful treatment of childhood leukaemia and thyroid disease. Our present HIV and AIDS therapies and a num- ber of heart drugs have also been developed in this way. In vitro or test-tube study has revolutionised medical research. Cell and tissue preservation technology is now so advanced that many different types of cells can be kept alive almost indefinitely, NEXUS - 31 Continued on page 82 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2001