This document provides 33 facts about the limitations of animal testing for developing human medicines and treatments. Some key points: - Animal test results agree with human results only 5-25% of the time. - 92% of drugs passed by animal tests immediately fail in human trials. - Common human diseases like cancer, heart disease and lung diseases from smoking cannot be reproduced in lab animals. - Drugs like Vioxx showed safety in animal tests but were later linked to heart attacks and strokes in humans. - Many lifesaving medical advances like blood transfusions, anaesthesia and insulin were delayed for decades or longer due to reliance on animal testing.

1. Does animal testing help human
medicine?
33 facts to consider.
1) Less than 2% of human illnesses (1.16%) are ever seen in
animals. Over 98% never affect animals.
2) According to the former scientific executive of Huntingdon
Life Sciences, animal tests and human results agree"5%-25% of the
time."
3) Among the hundreds of techniques available instead of animal
experiments, cell culture toxicology methods give accuracy rates of 80-
85%
4) 92% of drugs passed by animal tests immediately fail when first tried
on humans because they’re useless, dangerous or both.
5) The two most common illnesses in the Western world are lung cancer
from smoking and heart disease. Neither can be reproduced in lab
animals.
6) A 2004 survey of doctors in the UK showed that 83% wanted a
independent scientific evaluation of whether animal experiments had
relevance to human patients. Less than 1 in 4 (21%) had more
confidence in animal tests than in non-animal methods.
7) Rats are 37% effective in identifying what causes cancer to humans –
less use than guessing. The experimenters said:“we would have been
better off to have tossed a coin."
8) Rodents are the animals almost always used in cancer research. They
never get carcinomas, the human form of cancer, which affects
membranes (eg lung cancer). Their sarcomas affect bone and connective
tissue: the two arecompletely different.
9) The results from animal tests are routinely altered radically by diet,
light, noise, temperature, lab staff and bedding. Bedding differences
caused cancer rates of over 90% and almost zero in the same strain of
mice at different labs.
10)Sex differences among lab animals can cause contradictory results.
This does not correspond with humans.

2. 11) 75% of side effects identified in animals never occur.
12) Over half of side effects cannot be detected in lab animals.
13) Vioxx was shown to protect the heart of mice, dogs, monkeys and
other lab animals. It was linked to heart attacks and strokes in up to
139,000 humans.
14) Genetically modified animals are not like humans. The mdx mouse is
supposed to have muscular dystrophy, but the muscles regenerate with
no treatment.
15) GM animal the CF- mouse never gets fluid infections in the lungs –
the cause of death for 95% of human cystic fibrosis patients.
16) In America, 106,000 deaths a year are attributed to reactions to
medical drugs.
17) Each year 2.1 million Americans are hospitalised by medical
treatment.
18) In the UK an estimated 70,000 people are killed or severely disabled
every year by unexpected reactions to drugs. All these drugs have
passed animal tests.
19) In the UKs House Of Lords questions have been asked regarding why
unexpected reactions to drugs (which passed animal tests) kill more
people than cancer.
20) A German doctors' congress concluded that 6% of fatal illnesses and
25% of organic illness are caused by medicines. All have been animal
tested.
21) According to a thorough study, 88% of stillbirths are caused by drugs
which passed animal tests.
22) 61% of birth defects were found to have the same cause.
23) 70% of drugs which cause human birth defects are safe in pregnant
monkeys.
24) 78% of foetus-damaging chemicals can be detected by one non-
animal test.
25) Thousands of safe products cause birth defects in lab animals –
including water, several vitamins, vegetable oils, oxygen and drinking
waters. Of more than 1000 substances dangerous in lab animals, over
97% are safe in humans.

3. 26) One of the most common lifesaving operation (for ectopic
pregnancies) was delayed 40 years by vivisection.
27) The great Dr Hadwen noted "had animal experiments been relied
upon...humanity would have been robbed of this great blessing of
anaesthesia."
28) Aspirin fails animal tests, as do digitalis (heart drug), cancer drugs,
insulin (which causes animal birth defects), penicillin and other safe
medicines. They would be banned if vivisection were believed.
29) Blood transfusions were delayed 200 years by animal studies.
30) The polio vaccine was delayed 40 years by monkey tests.
31) 30 HIV vaccines, 33 spinal cord damage drugs, and over 700
treatments for stroke have been developed in animals. None work in
humans.
32) Despite many Nobel prizes going to vivisectors, only 45% agree that
animal experiments are crucial.
33) The Director of Research Defence Society, (which serves only to
defend vivisection) was asked if medical progress could have been
achieved without animal use. His written reply was "I am sure it could
be."
See 50 disasters of animal testing here.
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