Testing Drugs On Animals - Essay Example

testing drugs on animals Testing drugs on animal is not a new thing. For many centuries scientists and testers in research have used animals of all kinds. Most of the animals are small ones like rodents - rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils. Some dogs, cats and a variety of goats, monkeys and rabbits have also been used. The animal rights issue is an emotional one. For decades the value of animal research has been grossly overrated. Although researchers claim that they depend on animal test data to achieve medical advances, we should demand other means of research and there should be laws assuring a minimum level of animal protection because testing on animals is cruel, inhumane, and often unnecessary. The American Medical Association has stated that it believes that research involving animals is essential to maintaining and improving the health of human beings. They point out that all advances in medical science in the 20th century, from antibiotics to organ transplants, has been achieved either directly or indirectly through the use of animals in laboratory experiments. Arguments for animal experimentation may question the morality, necessity, and validity of these studies. The moral issue on animal experimentations concerns the need to protect human life and to improve the quality of life. The gains in human health and well being outweigh the cost in animal suffering which nonetheless should be kept to a minimum, in this viewpoint. It would be immoral to conduct such tests on humans, and so animals serve as our stand-ins for many kinds of testing and research. Those who support animal testing may care deeply about animals but don't place them on an equal status with humans. Research on animals may be deemed necessary for a variety of reasons: to develop vaccines and treatments and cures for diseases, to ensure that new products are safe to use. Such as making sure that they won't blind us, burn our skin, or even kill us and to help students, especially prospective doctors, veterinarians, and so on, learn their way around a body. Animals do make good research subjects for many purposes and research on them can tell us a great deal about ourselves. Animals are, in many ways, biologically similar to humans and are susceptible to many of the same health problems. Some species may serve as particularly good models for certain aspects of human health or physiology. Much of what we know about the immune system, for example, has come from studies with mice, and much of what we know about the cardiovascular system has come from studies with dogs. Many heart surgery techniques, such as coronary bypass surgery, artificial heart valve insertion, and pacemaker implants, were studied first in dogs before being used in people. (Jean Swingle Greek, DVM and C. Ray Greek, MD) Animals may make even better research subjects than humans in some regards. Furthermore, scientists can control certain aspects of an animal's environment, diet, temperature, lighting, and so on, more easily than would be possible with people. Supporters of the use of animals in research argue that alternative methods can't fully replace the use of animals, and may never do so. Neither cells grown outside a body nor computer programs can predict the complex interactions that occur in an entire living system. Countless medical treatments, techniques, and technologies have come about, at least in part, through animal experimentation. The development of immunization against such diseases as polio, diphtheria, mumps, measles, rubella, pertussis, and hepatitis all involved research on animals, as did the discovery of insulin and the study of diabetes. Animal research also has played a part in the development of organ transplantation, hip replacement, chemotherapy, cardiac pacemakers, coronary bypass surgery, ongoing efforts to understand and treat AIDS and Alzheimer's disease, and more. Arguments against animal testing may also question the morality, the necessity, or the validity of these studies. That is, whether we have the right to perform such tests, whether we need such tests, and whether the tests actually tell us anything useful. Animal rights advocates argue that sentient animals have a right to their own life; they are not ours to do with as we please. In its broadest form, this argues against using animals or animal products in any way. (Alix 31) Testing Drugs on Animals Every year is that nearly 100 million animals die in research laboratories at the hands of curious scientists who perform outdated and inaccurate tests that prove no benefit to humans or animals. Before these animals die, they are routinely burned, scalded, poisoned, starved, given electric shocks, addicted to drugs, subjected to near freezing temperatures, dosed with radioactive elements, driven insane, deliberately inflicted with diseases such as cancer, diabetes, oral infections, stomach ulcers, syphilis, herpes, and AIDS. Their eyes are surgically removed, their brains and spinal cords damaged, and their bones broken. Cosmetic companies kill millions of animals every year to try to make a profit. According to the companies that perform these tests, they are done to establish the safety of a product and the ingredients. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which regulates cosmetic products, does not require animal testing. Some of the tests used on animals are eye irritancy tests, acute toxicity tests, and skin irritancy tests. ( Tom Regan ) Animal research is a very controversial issue and probably will be until our technology increases enough to rely on alternatives. Animal experimentation has its pros and its cons and neither side has much more of an argument. Medical studies are needed to find certain drugs that will work to cure diseases and animals are the closest things to humans so we need to use them. It would be cruel and illegal to use these drugs on humans before we know if they are safe. If drugs were marketed without proper testing we would not know if they were safe to use. However, it is also said to be cruelty towards animals to use drugs on them not knowing how they will react towards them. Often different species don't react the same towards drugs as humans would. This causes suffering to animals for no reason at all. Although there are many alternative to product testing, animals are most likely to produce accurate results on what the product may do to humans. So until scientists learn a little more about humans and technology increases more, we probably couldn't do without animal research and testing completely but we need to try to keep it at a minimum and as necessary and proper as possible. Work Cited Alix Fano. "Lethal Laws: Animal Testing, Human Health and Environmental Policy" 1997. Zed Books. 22-47 Jean Swingle Greek, DVM and C. Ray Greek, MD. "What Will We Do If We Don't Experiment On Animals Medical Research for the Twenty-first Century. Trafford Publishing. 2006. 118-151 Tom Regan. "Defending Animal Rights" University of Illinois Press. 2000. 41-49 Read More