Hypocritical behaviour (From The Oxford Times)

Hypocritical behaviour

6:50am Thursday 8th January 2009 in

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Sir – Joseph Westrick (Letters, December 31) and many others seem to think that scientists are fiends who want to experiment on animals. This isn’t true.

The reason animal experiments are performed is because there is no alternative: they are a necessary evil. When testing a new drug for instance, animal experiments are essential in assessing drug safety prior to human administration. Or do people want to see disasters such as thalidomide?

I have never directly performed animal experiments, but have performed experiments on animal blood at various times in my career (not in Oxford).

I have, therefore, been in close contact with animal house staff and have been greatly impressed with the treatment of the animals where I worked.

One technician regularly cuddled and petted the experimental rabbits. When finally they were vivisected, they were thoroughly anaesthetised and so wouldn’t have felt any pain whatsoever. In another institution a technician made a point of providing an interesting environment for experimental mice with toilet rolls.

Many scientists are animal lovers who have domestic pets of their own.

They treat experimental animals with respect and gratitude, and strive to give them as high a quality of life as possible. Virtually anyone who has been in contact with modern medicine has benefited from animal experimentation. This makes illegal behaviour on the part of animal rights protesters all the more hypocritical.

And lastly, in response to Joseph Westrick’s question, as a medical student I do hope to contribute to the alleviation of human suffering.

Daniel Emlyn-Jones, Oxford

Comments(4)

CatC says...
1:46am Mon 12 Jan 09

Due to genetic differences between all species - it is because of genetic differences that we have different species! - animal testing does NOT give any assurance of drug safety in humans...

as amply demonstrated by the fact that the tiny, tiny genetic variations between humans mean that a drug which helps one human could (at best) not work but even actually harm or even kill another human - in the US alone each year around 100,000 people are killed by 'animal-tested' drugs.

As regards thalidomide, the birth-deformities tradegy happened because animal-testing utterly FAILED to predict a serious side-effect that would have kept it off the market....

what the pro-vivisection lobby conveniently don't mention is that the drug caused nerve damage - peripheral neuritis - in around 40,000 humans taking it....

however the previous animal tests had not demonstrated this serious adverse effect and it couldn't be reproduced in animals even after it was seen in humans.

Many scientists and medical professionals are against animal testing on scientific grounds, more information re this can be found at -
www.safermedicines.o
rg

As regards 'illegal behviour on the part of animal rights protesters', firstly throughout history people have been forced to resort to violence to stop the legal oppression of those conveniently deemed 'inferior' by the power group...

and why is it that - despite claimed 'strict and rigorous laws - government and the police did NOTHING when ILLEGAL EXPERMENTS ON PRIMATES WERE CARRIED OUT INSIDE HUNTINGDON LIFE SCIENCES?

See the evidence of what really goes on and how government covers up at -

www.xenodiaries.org

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Flyingfish says...
2:04pm Mon 12 Jan 09

CatC repeats the usual mix of half-truths and distortions that scientists have come to expect from the anti-vivisection lobby. For example not only does Thalidomide cause peripheral neuritis in animals but animals have been used to study thalidomide induced peripheral neuritis http://www.nature.co
m/mt/journal/v15/n1/
abs/6300019a.html

Chemie Grünenthal's safety testing procedures, in both animal and humans, were woefully inadequate so it's not surprising that they failed to pick up the problem that is in many cases mild and requires very careful monitoring of animals to detect. This is why most regulators tightened up their safety requirements after the Thalidomide disaster.

As to the problem of adverse reactions to drugs, well that is a problem, but it's worth noting that all the "animal tested" drugs CatC has mentioned have also been through far more extensive clinical trials in humans, perhaps CatC would also like to ban clinical trials? All drugs cause adverse reactions, in many cases due to the same effects that treat disease, a recent study in the BMJ by Dr. Munir Pirmohamed which found that two-thirds of adverse reactions could probably be avoided with more careful prescription and better patient education, and also that most problems were associated with older drugs that were developed when animal testing regimes were not as tough as they are now.

Animal testing is not perfect, it can't give us all the necessary information to guarantee patient safety, but it does make a great contribution to obtaining that information. Perhaps one day it will be possible to replace animal tests completely with in vitro methods, but that day is still decades away.

Animal research has the support of the overwhelming majority of scientists, doctors and surgeons solely because it has been vital to many great advances in medicine and continues to be so. For reliable information on this subject take a look at http://www.animalres
earch.info/en/home and http://www.pro-test.
org.uk/

CatC repeats the usual mix of half-truths and distortions that scientists have come to expect from the anti-vivisection lobby. For example not only does Thalidomide cause peripheral neuritis in animals but animals have been used to study thalidomide induced peripheral neuritis http://www.nature.co m/mt/journal/v15/n1/ abs/6300019a.html Chemie Grünenthal's safety testing procedures, in both animal and humans, were woefully inadequate so it's not surprising that they failed to pick up the problem that is in many cases mild and requires very careful monitoring of animals to detect. This is why most regulators tightened up their safety requirements after the Thalidomide disaster. As to the problem of adverse reactions to drugs, well that is a problem, but it's worth noting that all the "animal tested" drugs CatC has mentioned have also been through far more extensive clinical trials in humans, perhaps CatC would also like to ban clinical trials? All drugs cause adverse reactions, in many cases due to the same effects that treat disease, a recent study in the BMJ by Dr. Munir Pirmohamed which found that two-thirds of adverse reactions could probably be avoided with more careful prescription and better patient education, and also that most problems were associated with older drugs that were developed when animal testing regimes were not as tough as they are now. Animal testing is not perfect, it can't give us all the necessary information to guarantee patient safety, but it does make a great contribution to obtaining that information. Perhaps one day it will be possible to replace animal tests completely with in vitro methods, but that day is still decades away. Animal research has the support of the overwhelming majority of scientists, doctors and surgeons solely because it has been vital to many great advances in medicine and continues to be so. For reliable information on this subject take a look at http://www.animalres earch.info/en/home and http://www.pro-test. org.uk/ Flyingfish

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CatC says...
12:50am Thu 15 Jan 09

It is the pro-vivisection lobby which resorts to half-truths and distortions!

Below are just of few of the untold examples from scientific/medical/g
ovt publications re thalidomide -

Lack of peripheral neuropathy in Beagle dogs after 53 weeks oral administration of thalidomide capsules

"In contrast to humans, Beagle dogs did not develop thalidomide-induced peripheral neuropathy"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pubmed/11211
239

RABBIT SURAL NERVE RESPONSES...
"Attempts to produce experimental thalidomide neuropathy in laboratory animals have been inconclusive....

All animals gained weight steadily and remained healthy during the entire study period....No animals developed detectable
clinical abnormalities....

The present findings in rabbits demonstrate that thalidomide induces a functional abnormality of sural nerves clearly distinct from the overt neuropathy
described in humans."
http://www3.intersci
ence.wiley.com/cgi-b
in/fulltext/10970784
6/PDFSTART?CRETRY=1&
SRETRY=0

Therapeutic Angiogenesis Inhibits or Rescues Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy

"The lack of significance might be due to... just mild damage to nerves and vasculature... Rats (n=14) were treated by oral application (gavage) of 100 mg/kg thalidomide in 1% carboxymethylcellulo
se (CMC) daily from Monday to Friday for 6 months: a similar protocol was previously used to induce neuropathy in rabbits.44, 45"
http://www.nature.co
m/mt/journal/v15/n1/
full/6300019a.html#f
ig4

Looking at reference 44 -

Experimental thalidomide neuropathy

"Thalidomide neuropathy in man is well established as a distally accentuated, predoominantly sensory polyneuropathy
of the axonal type. In previous studies it has been show that both myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibres may be severly affected in human sural nerves .

Experimental studies, however, have not revealed any comparable degree of structural changes in thalidomide neuropathy..."
http://resources.met
apress.com/pdf-previ
ew.axd?code=t6427461
66303241&size=larges
t

Reference 45

Rabbit sural nerve responses to chronic treatment with thalidomide...

"Three groups of eight rabbits received 100 mg/kg/day thalidomide (group I), 200 mg/kg/day supidimide (a related drug) (group II), or a carboxymethylcellulo
se vehicle (group III) 5 days/week for 40 weeks....

Morphological findings were unremarkable in 20 regions of the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) known to display changes early in toxic neuropathies...

In conclusion, chronic treatment with thalidomide produces selected decrements in sural nerve function that have an
unknown relationship to the poorly reversible sensory neuropathy reported in humans receiving this drug."
http://www3.intersci
ence.wiley.com/journ
al/109707846/abstrac
t

Thalidomide neuropathy:...

"Even less is known about the biochemical basis for thalidomide neuropathy. Experimental work has been hampered by the difficulty in producing the
neuropathy in animals."
http://www.pubmedcen
tral.nih.gov/picrend
er.fcgi?artid=496421
&blobtype=pdf

ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THALIDOMIDE PHARMION
International Nonproprietary Name: THALIDOMIDE (2008)

"Repeat-dose toxicity studies in rats and dogs did not show any important safety concerns. One of the most important clinical safety concerns, peripheral neuropathy, has not been observed in the nonclinical toxicity studies.

It appears that the animal models (see table 5) are poorly predictive for thalidomide toxicity in humans....

Animal studies have demonstrated differences in species susceptibility to the teratogenic effects of thalidomide. In humans, thalidomide is a proven teratogen...

Animal studies have demonstrated differences in species susceptibility to the teratogenic effects of thalidomide."
http://www.emea.euro
pa.eu/humandocs/PDFs
/EPAR/thalidomidepha
rmion/H-823-en6.pdf

Thalidomide Resistance Is Based on... (2008)

"The rapid and fatal approval of thalidomide at that time ultimately was a consequence of the sole use of
thalidomide-insensit
ive species in animal toxicity tests...."
http://pubs.acs.org/
doi/abs/10.1021/mp80
01232

It is the pro-vivisection lobby which resorts to half-truths and distortions! Below are just of few of the untold examples from scientific/medical/g ovt publications re thalidomide - Lack of peripheral neuropathy in Beagle dogs after 53 weeks oral administration of thalidomide capsules "In contrast to humans, Beagle dogs did not develop thalidomide-induced peripheral neuropathy" http://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pubmed/11211 239 RABBIT SURAL NERVE RESPONSES... "Attempts to produce experimental thalidomide neuropathy in laboratory animals have been inconclusive.... All animals gained weight steadily and remained healthy during the entire study period....No animals developed detectable clinical abnormalities.... The present findings in rabbits demonstrate that thalidomide induces a functional abnormality of sural nerves clearly distinct from the overt neuropathy described in humans." http://www3.intersci ence.wiley.com/cgi-b in/fulltext/10970784 6/PDFSTART?CRETRY=1& SRETRY=0 Therapeutic Angiogenesis Inhibits or Rescues Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy "The lack of [recovery] significance might be due to... just mild damage to nerves and vasculature...[Even though] Rats (n=14) were treated by oral application (gavage) of 100 mg/kg thalidomide in 1% carboxymethylcellulo se (CMC) daily from Monday to Friday for 6 months: a similar protocol was previously used to induce neuropathy in rabbits.44, 45" http://www.nature.co m/mt/journal/v15/n1/ full/6300019a.html#f ig4 Looking at reference 44 - Experimental thalidomide neuropathy "Thalidomide neuropathy in man is well established as a distally accentuated, predoominantly sensory polyneuropathy of the axonal type. In previous studies it has been show that both myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibres may be severly affected in human sural nerves [3,7,10]. Experimental studies, however, have not revealed any comparable degree of structural changes in thalidomide neuropathy..." http://resources.met apress.com/pdf-previ ew.axd?code=t6427461 66303241&size=larges t Reference 45 Rabbit sural nerve responses to chronic treatment with thalidomide... "Three groups of eight rabbits received 100 mg/kg/day thalidomide (group I), 200 mg/kg/day supidimide (a related drug) (group II), or a carboxymethylcellulo se vehicle (group III) 5 days/week for 40 weeks.... Morphological findings were unremarkable in 20 regions of the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) known to display changes early in toxic neuropathies... In conclusion, chronic treatment with thalidomide produces selected decrements in sural nerve function that have an unknown relationship to the poorly reversible sensory neuropathy reported in humans receiving this drug." http://www3.intersci ence.wiley.com/journ al/109707846/abstrac t Thalidomide neuropathy:... "Even less is known about the biochemical basis for thalidomide neuropathy. Experimental work has been hampered by the difficulty in producing the neuropathy in animals." http://www.pubmedcen tral.nih.gov/picrend er.fcgi?artid=496421 &blobtype=pdf ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THALIDOMIDE PHARMION International Nonproprietary Name: THALIDOMIDE (2008) "Repeat-dose toxicity studies in rats and dogs did not show any important safety concerns. One of the most important clinical safety concerns, peripheral neuropathy, has not been observed in the nonclinical toxicity studies. It appears that the animal models (see table 5) are poorly predictive for thalidomide toxicity in humans.... Animal studies have demonstrated differences in species susceptibility to the teratogenic effects of thalidomide. In humans, thalidomide is a proven teratogen... Animal studies have demonstrated differences in species susceptibility to the teratogenic effects of thalidomide." http://www.emea.euro pa.eu/humandocs/PDFs /EPAR/thalidomidepha rmion/H-823-en6.pdf Thalidomide Resistance Is Based on... (2008) "The rapid and fatal approval of thalidomide at that time ultimately was a consequence of the sole use of thalidomide-insensit ive species in animal toxicity tests...." http://pubs.acs.org/ doi/abs/10.1021/mp80 01232 CatC

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CatC says...
1:43am Thu 15 Jan 09

"it's worth noting that all the "animal tested" drugs CatC has mentioned have also been through far more extensive clinical trials in humans, perhaps CatC would also like to ban clinical trials?"

You are neatly avoiding the actual issue - yes the drugs have also been tested on humans in clinical trials...but as humans don't predict for 'humans' how can completely different species predict for 'humans'?

We must to stop squandering resources studying different species and put those resources into scientific, human-relevant research and tailored medicines.

"All drugs cause adverse reactions"

And the dose is the poison...however - due to tiny, tiny genetic variations between individuals of the SAME species - which reaction, the severity of the reaction, and the level of dose which is 'poison', can and do vary between individuals.

This is why we need scientific, human-relevant research and tailored medicines.

"Animal testing is not perfect"

Animal testing is dangerous for humans and means drugs which could be useful for humans are lost.

"Animal research has the support of the overwhelming majority of scientists, doctors and surgeons solely because..."

Animal research continues for many reasons, a scientific basis isn't one of them though. It is deeply ingrained, there is the status, egos and livelihoods of those involved, the public outcry if it was admitted it was all nonsense, and of course it's big, big business.

More info on the scientific case against at
www.safermedicines.o
rg

Hypocritical behaviour (From The Oxford Times)

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