Question

Animal research is a necessary practice in the world of medical research, allowing scientists to develop life-saving interventions and to spot catastrophic problems before new techniques or products make their way to actual patients. However, this does not mean that we should deny that there are serious ethical issues involved. Animal testing is not a pretty or pleasant process. It causes pain and suffering to animal subjects, and legitimate cases of abuse have been uncovered by animal rights groups. Consequently, the practice should be tightly regulated, and alternative methods should be employed whenever possible. Discussion Prompt: Discuss a specific research study involving animals that had ethical issues. What were the ethical issues involved? What could have been done to conduct the research study differently to avoid these ethical issues? Respond to at least two of your classmates postings.

Answer 1

Medical research is a necessary practise to invent new medicines and vaccines in the world . Animals are the samples which are used for these research purposes to detect the quality and effect of the newly invented drugs .We cannot use humans to observe the effects of the medicines So, animal research is a necessary practice which allows scientists to develop life saving interventions .

1. Example of a research study involving animals that had ethical issue is A 2011 study from the Department of Physiology used 6 adult cats (origin unknown). The cats received a pre-surgical injection “cocktail” of drugs. Then they were anaesthetized and placed in a head and body brace. The upper vertebrae were removed to expose the nerves of the spinal column. Sections of the spinal cord were damaged or removed. The cats were kept alive for 7-9 days after this surgery which caused catastrophic injury—days which we can only imagine were bleak, painful and frightening. Then they were anaesthetized again, and returned to the brace. The spinal cord was exposed again, and the scar tissue which had formed over the previous week was removed. The animals were put on respirators, and given an injection to paralyze them, and were then injected with various kinds of staining fluid which were allowed 8-10 hours to spread through tissues. Then the cats were killed by lethal injection, and their tissues harvested for study

2. The ethical issues involved in animal research are :-

There are numerous ethical considerations that have to be taken into account when conducting animal research

Every year over 100 million animals are killed in US laboratories

Many animal rights organizations take the stance that knowledge gain does not outweigh the moral violations that are placed upon animals

The American psychological association has defined a separate guideline for ethical considerations with animals

When conducting experiments researchers need to ensure that the number of animals that are used are reduced by improving experimental techniques

Also animals must be cared for to reduce their suffering by using less invasive methods and better living conditions

Additionally experimenters should not try to use animals if it's not necessary.

In the study described above , the animals had to suffer due to invasive methods and also they were not provided better living condition.

3. The research study could have been conducted differently by following the ethical considerations by providing better living condition for animals and using less invasive techniques .