NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday 20 February 2002
CONTACT:
Simon Chaitowitz, Director of Communications
tel: 202-686-2210, ext. 309; simonc@pcrm.org
Doctors File Three New Complaints Over Controversial Cat Experiments
Health Advocates File with USDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Ohio State University
Washington, D.C.—The Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) will file three separate
complaints tomorrow over a controversial set of cat experiments
underway at Ohio State University. In addition, PCRM president Neal
Barnard, M.D., will testify about the faulty approval process
that sanctioned the cat study, as well as its broader implications
for all animal experiments, at a National Advisory Council on Drug
Abuse meeting today in Bethesda, Md.
The experiments under debate involve dosing live cats with methamphetamine
("speed"), a drug of abuse, and then infecting them with feline immunodeficiency
virus (FIV). The study was designed by Michael Podell, an Ohio State veterinarian, who
claims he hopes to create an "animal model" showing the brain damage known to
occur in humans who are both drug abusers and infected with the AIDS virus. Dr. Podell is
subjecting the cats to spinal taps and other stressful and painful procedures before
killing them to examine their brains. The dispute over these experiments is the focus of
growing controversy and has been reported in Nature, The Washington Post,
and other media outlets.
PCRM's three new complaints are the second step in its campaign to expose the
scientific inadequacies of Dr. Podell's study. The organization filed a lawsuit against
the National Institutes of Health in December under the Freedom of Information Act for
concealing crucial data about Dr. Podell's work that should be available to the public.
PCRM's upcoming complaints to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS), the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Ohio State University, all address Dr.
Podell's failure to adequately search for alternatives to the use of animals, as required
by federal law. The complaints call for an immediate suspension of Dr. Podell's work
pending an investigation by an impartial panel of public health and animal welfare
experts.
"Investigators are legally required to conduct an adequate search for alternatives
to the use of animals," says PCRM president Neal Barnard, M.D. "Had this
experimenter done so, he would have found that all the key research questions can be
addressed in ethical research in human patients."
"Congress passed the Animal Welfare Act to obligate investigators and research
facilities to reduce the use of, as well as the pain and distress imposed on, animals used
in research," says Mindy Kursban, PCRM's legal counsel. "The apparent lip
service that Ohio State University and Dr. Podell have given this very serious mandate is
inexcusable."
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to promoting preventive medicine and higher standards in medical
research, education, and practice.
-30-
Click here to read PCRM's Complaint and Request for
Investigation to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Click here to read PCRM's Complaint and Request for
Investigation to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Ohio State University.
Media
Center | Health | Research
| About PCRM | Catalog
| Join Us | Search
| Site Index | Home
The site does
not provide medical or legal advice. This Web site is for information purposes
only.
Full Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
|
