A warm welcome to Alex Cunningham MP for Stockton North who has signed EDM 22, calling for properly moderated public scientific debates about the claims that the results from animal experiments can ‘predict’ the responses of human patients. This question of the claimed predictive value of animal experiments for human patients is increasingly becoming the focus of leading scientific journals: in June this year the Editor in Chief of the British Medical Journal published ‘Editors Choice’ titled ‘How Predictive and Productive is Animal Research?‘ and concluded by citing the paper it quoted:
“If research conducted on animals continues to be unable to reasonably predict what can be expected in humans, the public’s continuing endorsement and funding of preclinical animal research seems misplaced”.
EDM 22’s debate conditions have been endorsed by Britain’s foremost human rights defence barrister Michael Mansfield QC – currently representing the Hillsborough families. The EDM’s call for debates is unique because a panel of judges will be present who will include experts from the fields of clinical medicine, complexity/chaos theory, philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, clinical research, drug development, and basic research. The debate conditions are specifically designed to achieve a scientific result which can be submitted as evidence in a wider legal action as well as to government bodies, in order to change now demonstrably outdated laws. The significance of this is in sharp contrast to the more casual ‘vote on line’ or show of hands at the end of previous debates.
Vivisection is mandated – incorrectly – as a scientific practice which allegedly benefits human patients. No matter how strong our moral concerns about this practice’s lack of respect for animals, until we address its false scientific claims vivisection will continue, fueled by personalities such as Chris Magee who ignores up-to-date medical knowledge in order to protect his high salary and the financial assets secured by expanding Beagle breeding units for vivisection labs, pretending these dogs can actually help human medical knowledge advance. In 2013, 2,873 Beagles – that’s 83% of the total lab Beagles – were used in what’s called ‘applied research’ in the fields of human medicine or dentistry, under the false claim these dogs can tell scientists what will happen in humans: i.e. as claimed ‘predictive models’ for human patients. Read more about why Beagles will never be able to predict for human responses.
MPs are accelerating our campaign’s success by signing EDM 22. Locate your MP quickly! Visit this link to send a letter today, asking him/her to sign EDM 22 in support of this groundbreaking initiative.