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The Physicians Committee Advocates for Change at the National Institute of Mental Health
The Physicians Committee, with the support of hundreds of physicians and scientists, recently sent a letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Monica Bertagnolli detailing priorities that should be considered as the agency selects the next director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The Physicians Committee also submitted guidance to the NIMH advisory council with specific actions that can be taken now to improve mental health research while moving away from unreliable research using animals.
Hundreds of physicians and scientists recently joined the Physicians Committee in writing to the director of the NIH, Monica Bertagnolli, who is in the process of selecting the next NIMH director. In our letter, we emphasize the importance of choosing a director who is both capable and willing to lead the NIMH in shifting its support away from failed animal experiments to focus on human-specific methods that are the future of mental health research.
We have also submitted a written comment to the National Advisory Council on Mental Health (NAMHC), which advises the NIMH on mental health research policies and priorities. In this comment, we requested that the NIMH take two simple actions to stop wasteful spending on unscientific animal experiments—the forced swim and tails suspension tests—which the Institute has repeatedly described as failures.
For decades, researchers have been forcing mice to swim in inescapable containers of water and taping them upside-down by their tails, watching them struggle to the point of exhaustion, and calling it depression research. The NIMH has correctly pointed out that these experiments are not suitable for understanding human depression or testing new therapeutics. Yet, the NIMH continues to fund these experiments for those purposes.
To resolve the issue, the Physicians Committee has outlined two steps that the Institute can take right now to reduce federal spending on wasteful research using animals. First, we have requested that the NIMH include language in all future funding announcements that prohibits researchers from using NIMH funds on experiments utilizing the forced swim or tail suspension tests.
Additionally, we have requested that the NIMH issue public statements and guidance on procedures that they deem not suitable for funding. This additional information, apart from funding announcement stipulations, would help to educate scientists on the issue and work to invalidate the notion that cutting corners with invalid animal research is “good enough.”
The Physicians Committee will engage the NIMH and other agencies on these issues until action is taken to eliminate the support for these experiments. In doing so, we will continue to offer practical solutions that agencies can implement rapidly while improving the quality of research and human health outcomes.
