Research Methods in Life Sciences Commons^™

Update – Food & Drug Administration’S Animal Testing Mandate, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Following the end of the Second World War, the World Medical Association developed new ethical guidelines regarding research involving human subjects. These guidelines included requirements to obtain informed consent from research subjects but also emphasized the importance of conducting animal research before engaging in human clinical trials and other human research. This principle was included in legislation mandating the FDA to require prior animal research before permitting human trials of new drugs. That mandate was recently eliminated by new US legislation cosponsored by Senators Cory Booker and Rand Paul. The FDA can now encourage non-animal methods and no longer has …

Meetings & Announcements

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The first international meeting on the Human/Companion Animal Bond was held at the University of Pennsylvania during October 5-7, 1981. The meeting brought together persons concerned about animal welfare and a broad spectrum of healthcare professionals. Two symposia were held in Europe in late 1981 (The Netherlands and Sweden) on the LD50 test. In October 1981, a symposium was organized in Switzerland on using animals in research and testing. At the end of 1981, the National Society for Medical Research organized an “adjunct” methods seminar. Finally, the Scientists Center for Animal Welfare organized a conference on the regulation of animal …

News And Analysis

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The section includes reports on the use of pound animals for research; EEC standards for battery cages for laying hens; a declaration that fish are considered to be animals in Massachusetts, the rescue of dogs from research in Maryland; determining wildlife populations in Virginia; the tuna-dolphin controversy; the protection of laboratory animals; animal experimentation in the UK; the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee; broiler chicken welfare; ignorance regarding wildlife in the USA, the Ames Test as an alternative; the ban on sperm whale hunting; and an analysis of alternatives research supported by the NIH.

Legislation And Regulation

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The idea of new federal regulation on the care and use of animals in research is no longer novel; bills that would control and refocus the conduct of animal experimentation in the U.S. have been pending since the last session of Congress. Last autumn, however, a new phase in the process began. On 13-14 October 1981, the House Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology held information-gathering public hearings to evaluate existing bills and possibly formulate its own legislation.

Biomedical Research And Animal Welfare: Traditional Viewpoints And Future Directions, Franklin M. Loew

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

It has been twenty years since C.P. Snow first presented the concept of "The Two Cultures,"; referring to the "culture" of scientists and the "culture" of literary intellectuals (mainly writers), Snow said (1969): "constantly I felt I was moving among two groups- comparable in intelligence, identical in race, not grossly different in social origin, earning about

the same incomes, who had almost ceased to communicate at all, who in intellectual, moral and psychological climate had so little in common." In some ways, "Two Cultures" goes far to characterize the current state of affairs surrounding those whose scientific endeavors involve the …

Meetings And Announcements

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) organized a conference on “Laboratory Animal Research for the 80s”. Speakers included Dr. Steele Mattingly (Harlan-Sprague Dawley), Dr. Franklin M Loew (Johns Hopkins), Dr. Robert Whitney (NIH), and Dr. Edward Lennon of MCW.

Regulation Of Biomedical Research, Andrew N. Rowan

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The idea of abolishing or simplifying government regulations has a large following in Washington. As Reagan and his advisors start to prune the growth of the past twenty years, we must hope that they can distinguish between the healthy growth that provides needed support and the excessive growth that strangles necessary initiatives. However, there is one area where we need more regulation rather than less, namely, biomedical research. In calling for more regulation in biomedical research, the author notes he does not mean the imposition of external controls by allegedly ignorant and insensitive bureaucrats (although he states some outside oversight …